Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced an extension to the current free charging incentive for electric vehicles (EVs) which is expected to expire by the end of this year, to 31 December 2021.
However, this extension only applies to non-commercial users, who have registered for the EV Green Charger Initiative.
This incentive is exclusive to DEWA public charging stations and does not include home charging stations.
Commercial registered users such as government, semi-government, and private organisations will be charged the tariff of 29 fils per kilowatt hour, effective from the 1st of January 2020.
The utility’s MD & CEO Mohammed Al Tayer, said: “We support the Smart Dubai initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the happiest and smartest city in the world; the UAE Vision 2021 which aims to achieve a sustainable environment in terms of air quality, conservation of water resources, increased reliance on clean energy, and green development.
According to Al Tayer, the utility also supports the Dubai Plan 2021, to make Dubai a smart, sustainable and innovative city in managing its resources, improving its quality of life, and consolidating its position as a global model for a green economy.
“DEWA seeks to increase the number of hybrid and electric vehicles in Dubai, which supports the Dubai Green Mobility Strategy 2030 and the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy 2021 to reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector,” he added.
Dubai Green Mobility Initiative
Al Tayer pointed out that under the umbrella of the Supreme Council, DEWA is working on implementing the Dubai Green Mobility Initiative to promote the use of electric and hybrid vehicles.
The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy launched this initiative as per a directive in 2016 to motivate organisations, under its umbrella, to increase the number of hybrid and electric vehicles and to contribute to the sustainable development of the Emirate by reducing carbon emissions in ground transport, which is the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter in Dubai.
Therefore, at least 10% of all newly-purchased cars will be electric or hybrid from 2016 to 2020. This supports the city’s Carbon Abatement Strategy to cut carbon emissions by 16% by 2021.
Al Tayer highlighted that ever since DEWA launched the EV Green Charger Initiative in 2015 and its associated free charging incentive, there has been a significant increase in the number of electric and hybrid vehicles in Dubai.
“Due to the positive response, we decided to extend the free charging incentive for the owners of non-commercial electric vehicles until the 31 of December 2021. The huge turnout from the community encourages us to launch further initiatives to secure a more sustainable future for generations to come,” he concluded.