Dewa unit to set up big solar-powered data centre in Dubai


Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said one of its units, Moro Hub, has signed an agreement with Huawei to build the region's largest solar-powered carbon-neutral green data centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai.

Moro Hub (Data Hub Integrated Solutions), a subsidiary of Digital Dewa, the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), has signed an agreement with Huawei to build the largest solar-powered Uptime Tier III-certified data centre in the Middle East and Africa at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. 
 
The new sustainable, carbon-neutral green data centre uses 100% renewable energy and has a capacity exceeding 100 megawatts (MW) and is the second solar-powered green data centre in Dubai launched by Moro Hub. 
 
The deal was signed by Marwan Bin Haidar, Vice Chairman and Group CEO Digital Dewa and Jerry Liu, CEO of Huawei UAE, in the presence of Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, and Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East.
 
"The carbon-neutral centre supports Dubai's efforts to exceed the goals of Dubai's Carbon Abatement Strategy in reducing carbon emissions by 16% by 2021. Dubai has surpassed this target, reducing emissions by 22% in 2019," he noted. 
 
"The new centre positions Moro Hub which also includes InfraX and DigitalX, as a leading contributor to the UAE's circular economy, while significantly aids Dewa’s progress towards sustainable development," said Al Tayer.
 
“The centre will offer digital products and services using Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, such as cloud services, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Since the new green Data Centre is the largest in the Middle East and Africa, it will enable global hyper-scalers to access carbon-free computing. Moro Hub’s green data centre will help customers in their sustainability initiatives to reduce their carbon emissions and become carbon neutral,” added Al Tayer.
 
On the partnership, Yang said: "Huawei is pleased to associate with Moro Hub as the key technology provider for the largest green data centre in the region. This is an important association, and it allows us to strengthen our partnership with Moro Hub and take part in fortifying the UAE's sustainable development goals."
 
"There's been significant growth in the renewable sector, and we are optimistic that this agreement will reinforce our endeavours to implement and strengthen the adoption of carbon-neutral digital technologies," he added.
 
Mustapha Louni, Senior Vice-President, Middle East, Africa and Greater India, Uptime Institute, said: "We laud the relentless efforts of the UAE government to accelerate the adoption of the next-generation infrastructure for its citizens and businesses."
 
"Construction of the most sustainable Uptime Institute Tier III-certified data centre in the region will provide green leadership to the IT industry at large, and we are confident that this new facility will support the country's sustainable economic growth for years to come," he added.-TradeArabia News Service