Dubai-based Indian school, Indian Academy Dubai has partnered with CleanMax Solar, one of the largest providers of solar power for corporate and institutional clients in Asia, to set up a 192 kW rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at its Al Qusais campus in Dubai.

CleanMax Solar said in a press statement on Tuesday that the project, implemented under Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) Shams Dubai initiative, was completed in August.

The statement said the plant, which spans three buildings, will generate 307,000 kWh units of electricity annually and meet 70 percent of the school’s electricity requirements.

DEWA’s Shams Dubai initiative, which is a part of its Distributed Renewable Resources Generation programme, encourages household and building owners to install solar panels to generate electricity, and connect them to DEWA’s grid. The electricity is used on site and the surplus is exported to DEWA’s network, according to information posted on DEWA’s website.

The Indian Academy Principal Susan Varghese said in the statement that the renewable energy industry is poised to employ a larger percentage of the global workforce in the future.

“Having a solar plant that our students can directly engage with and experience first-hand will provide them with extensive opportunities to learn more about renewable energy and help those interested in pursuing rewarding careers in this rapidly expanding field,” she said.

CleanMax Solar Co-Founder and CEO of its MENA operations, Sushant Arora said the rooftop solar project was implemented using the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model.

“Using this model, we invested in and will operate the solar power plant over a 20-year period while the school pays us every month for the electricity generated from the plant, creating energy cost savings for the school and a return on investments for us,” he said.

Last month, a DEWA press statement noted that to date, more than 100 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar PV capacity has been installed across Dubai.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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