Renewable energy is an attractive option for UAE to use to meet energy needs. The country can take full advantage of solar technology because it receives ten hours of sunlight per day, 350 days per year. And while it’s one of the world’s most oil-rich countries, it has been investing heavily in solar and nuclear power. It has set a target to meet over 50% of its electricity needs from clean sources by 2050, while the capital Abu Dhabi intends to generate half by 2030. It will have to invest US $163 billion into renewable technologies to reach these goals.
Zoheir Hamedi, IRENA’s Regional Program Officer for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
If we look at the broader picture, which is the benefits that renewable energies can bring to the economy and the environment, I think that here we can see that the cost-to-benefit issue is much more in the advantage of renewables energies than fossil fuels.
One of the largest solar plants, called the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, is located in a desert just south of Dubai. It spans nearly 4,000 acres and consists of thousands of rows of solar photovoltaic panels. The park currently powers 160,000 homes and offsets around 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, but it’s still under construction. By 2030, it will generate enough energy to power 800,000 homes and offset 6.5 million tons of CO2 emissions.
A couple of other impressive solar endeavors include the first utility-scale solar plant in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi’s Shams Solar Park) and the world’s first solar plane to fly a full circle around the globe. (Solar Impulse 2).
Awaidha Al Marar, the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, told a panel discussion organized by Goals House as part of UN General Assembly virtual meetings:
You will be surprised that we will exceed that [the current target]. The UAE [is] either the second or the third-ranking worldwide on investment in concentrated solar power plants.
Another facility under development, called the Dhafah project, will cover 20 square kilometers and have the capacity to power 110,000 households across the country. Meanwhile, just last month, it connected Unit 1 of the Barakah nuclear power plant to the grid.
Mr. Al Marar told the panel:
We are redoubling efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions as part of our commitments to UN Sustainability Development Goals. We’ve achieved affordable energy and water for 100 percent. We’ve achieved almost 98.5 percent concerning fuel for cooking. The issue of carbon dioxide we are still on the border average. But I can tell you the good news that when the nuclear plant is fully operated and the new [solar plant] Al Dhafrah is in operation as well, that will stabilize the carbon dioxide target emission.
Beyond solar and nuclear, other key sustainability projects in the UAE include wind power, sustainable urban development, waste reduction, and emissions-free transportation. For example, a Sharjah facility managed by Masdar and Bee’ ah is spearheading waste-to-energy production, generating enough power to supply 28,000 homes with electricity. The project also has a goal to reduce the emirate’s landfill contribution to zero eventually. In 2009 the rate of diversion of waste from landfills was 20%, and in 2016 it was over 70%.
