UAE Launched Green Energy Projects Worth AED 159 Billion in 2022

/ News & Interviews / Monday, 16 January 2023 10:50

Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, minister of energy and infrastructure, announced the UAE had launched 11 environmentally-friendly energy projects worth AED159 billion in 2022.

In an interview with a state news agency, Al Mazrouei noted that the UAE’s clean energy production in 2021 totaled 7,035.75 megawatts (MW), underscoring the country's pioneering efforts in the clean energy sector.

He highlighted the launch of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 as the first unified energy strategy by the UAE, aimed at integrating the renewable and clean energy mix to achieve a balance between economic needs and climate goals. He also said that the UAE was among the first countries to ratify the Paris Agreement with various innovations in sustainable development.

He said that the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has planned for the energy sector's future for 50 years, by revising the National Energy Strategy 2050, drafting the National Hydrogen Strategy and building on the achievements already accomplished over the past five decades.

Al Mazrouei stressed that clean energy’s contribution to the energy mix in 2021 reached 19.63% while the contribution of renewable energy reached 12% and the contribution of peaceful nuclear energy reached 7.55%.

Al Mazrouei said that the current global crisis in energy supplies would lead to a renewed focus on using the lowest-priced, locally available resources to meet the country's energy requirements, with an increase in exports from the non-oil sector from the UAE.

He maintained the importance and potential of the UAE’s solar power in achieving the carbon neutrality goal, stressing that the development of renewables required transportation upgrades and investment in storage technologies to reliably meet energy requirements.

He said the factors that will drive energy prices in 2023 will include China’s “zero-COVID” policy, the US decision to refill the Strategic Oil Reserve, the sanctions imposed on Russian seaborne oil products and ongoing global inflation.

He hailed the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant as a leading innovative energy project showcasing the UAE’s energy transition. He said that once fully operational, its four reactors would offset 22.4 million tons of carbon emissions, the main cause of climate change, annually.

Al Mazrouei pointed out that once commercially operational, the third reactor will add another 1,400 MW of carbon-free electricity to the UAE's electricity grid which will help achieve the country’s energy security and combat climate change. The successive achievements of the Barakah plant highlight the UAE’s considerable capabilities in drafting and managing major projects.

He also said that the UAE was a model for developing mini reactors and a new generation of reactors and is paving the way for other carbon-free energy sources, including hydrogen.

Finally, Al Mazrouei also recognized Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) and its role in supporting the preparations for COP28, He underscored that ADSW is supporting global sustainability efforts and the UAE’s efforts to host COP28.

Also read: Renewables vs. Hydrocarbons: The Devil Is in the Details

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