Business Post Contributor
By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
French multinational integrated oil and gas company, TotalEnergies SE, and one of the leading providers of air, ocean, and road freight services, DHL Global Forwarding, have signed a contract to begin a mega solar energy project in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE).
The green initiative, which is to produce over 14,000 Megawatt Hours (MWh) of electricity per year on eight sites (enough energy to power over 16,000 homes yearly in the UAE), is in continuation with their Strategic Cooperation Agreement signed in 2019.
It also goes in line with Deutsche Post DHL Group’s sustainability roadmap and ambition to reduce all logistics-related emissions to zero by the year 2050.
While total TotalEnergies will solarize eight of DHL’s sites in Dubai to cover the equivalent of over 46,000m² of photovoltaic panels, the solar system will save more than 6,000t of CO2 the first year.
Commenting on the project, the CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Middle East and Africa, Mr Amadou Diallo said, “With an annual average of 8.7 hours of sunshine per day, Dubai has a clear advantage in terms of solar energy. I am all the more pleased that we can use this asset to advance our sustainability goals further
“With TotalEnergies, we have a partner at our side, not only to drive forward the use of alternative fuels but also to optimize our overall energy consumption.
“In this way, we are going step by step to achieve our ambitious target to reduce all logistics-related emissions to zero by the year 2050.”
In addition to the production of sustainable energy in the region, the programme also includes 85 per cent of the solar modules to be recycled of which the entire product cycle saves over 150,000 tons of CO2 over the contract duration.
Expressing delight over the support of TotalEnergies in the project, its Managing Director at Renewables Distributed Generation in the Middle East and Africa, Mr Hamady Sy, declared that the company is looking forward to assisting in the reduction of carbon footprint in the region and beyond.
