Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and MD and CEO, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, has announced that the Solar Decathlon, an international competition that challenges teams to design and build smart houses powered exclusively by the sun, will take place in Dubai between 2018 and 2020, coinciding with Expo 2020 Dubai.

The announcement was made to reflect the rising global position of the UAE and its key role regionally at the Final Awards Ceremony of the Solar Decathlon USA, attended by Steven Choi, Mayor of the City of Irvine, Abdulla Ali Al-Saboosi, Consul-General of the UAE Consulate in Los Angeles, Richard King, Director of the Solar Decathlon at the US Department of Energy, DoE, and Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, EERE, at the DoE.

Solar Decathlon is an international competition run by the DoE to design smart solar-powered buildings. Universities from around the world take part in the programme that challenges teams to design, build, and operate energy-efficient houses. The winner of the competition will be the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and efficiency.

"We are working to achieve the vision of Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to establish Dubai as a global hub in sustainability and innovation. To support the UAE Vision 2021, to make the UAE among the best countries in the world, and the Dubai Plan 2021, to propel Dubai to be among the world's greatest cities, we launched the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, which involves securing sustainable supplies of energy and enhancing the efficient use of water, power and fuel," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer.

He added, "Dubai has made considerable progress in providing renewable energy as a result of its programmes and initiatives. We believe that solar power is the key source of renewable energy to meet the projected demand. By 2030, DEWA intends to generate 15% of its total power output from solar energy. This means that the installed capacity will need to grow to 3,000MW by then. All this solar power will be developed over a large area in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This initiative is the flagship of our renewable energy focus in Dubai. This includes commercial solar deployments, academic initiatives, a research and development centre, an innovation centre and a large number of future partnership opportunities."