Aldar Properties (Aldar) announced in a statement that it has entered a clean energy agreement with Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), a leading company in the integrated coordination of planning, purchasing and supply of water and electricity across the UAE.
Through the agreement, 100 percent of Aldar’s owned and managed operating assets will be powered by EWEC’s clean energy sources for up to five years in a move that aims to promote the adoption of clean energy and support the expansion of decarbonisation in the real estate sector.
At present, scope 2 emissions, associated with the purchase of electricity from the grid, represent the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions at Aldar’s real estate assets and this agreement will reduce those emissions and support decarbonisation across the company’s portfolio. The clean energy, which will be supplied to Aldar’s assets from EWEC’s clean energy sources, will be validated via Clean Energy Certificates registered by EWEC, a scheme that was launched by the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy to enable Abu Dhabi companies to validate claims of producing and consuming renewable or clean electricity as part of their efforts to achieve sustainability goals.
EWEC is one of the key parties enabling the implementation of Abu Dhabi’s Clean Energy Certificate scheme, acting as Single Registrant and auction operator to establish a primary market for this new instrument, conducting auctions every quarter that any organisation can participate in.
Greg Fewer, Chief Financial and Sustainability Officer, commented, “There has never been a time more critical for the corporate community to acknowledge the impact that real estate assets have on the environment. Buildings account for 37 percent of today’s global CO2 emissions when both operational emissions and embodied emissions of materials are taken into account. It is evident that sustainable buildings are one of the most effective means of tackling this global challenge and we are proud to make this milestone move with EWEC as our partner.”
Francois Brice, Commercial Executive Director at EWEC, said, “We are really excited to see key Abu Dhabi companies such as Aldar taking the lead on reaching Zero Carbon by certifying the origin of the power consumed from the grid through the clean energy certificate scheme, joining other major energy, industrial, healthcare, and commercial entities taking positive action to reduce carbon emissions. Aldar moved swiftly to participate in the scheme, becoming the first real estate development, management and investment company and one of the larger market participants.”
Aldar continues to make significant progress with regards to its sustainability goals, scoring higher than all listed real estate companies in the UAE. Furthermore, Aldar was ranked third among all listed companies on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, and increased its ESG ratings within two major global benchmarks, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and Sustainalytics, driven by a focus on minimising its environmental impact and the launch of various social impact initiatives as part of its broader ESG strategy.
