The UAE seeks to cut its reliance on thermal power and generate 30 percent of its electricity from clean energy by 2030, according to the leading data and analytics company GlobalData.
The UAE mainly depends on thermal power to generate most of its electricity, with 92.6 percent of its total electricity produced from thermal power in 2021.
GlobalData’s latest report, ‘UAE Power Market Size, Trends, Regulations, Competitive Landscape and Forecast, 2022-2035’, has also revealed that the UAE is working to introduce pumped hydro into the country’s power mix. This is expected to start with the Al Hattawi pumped storage plant when it begins commercial operations in 2026.
The project is being designed to use and store water from the existing Hatta dam for generating electricity during peak demand periods.
As per the statement, the project was launched as part of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims for three-quarters of the UAE’s total power output to be from clean energy sources by 2050.
Mr. Attaurrahman Ojindaram Saibasan, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, said that, “The largest source of clean energy opportunities is expected to emerge from the renewables sector, especially solar. Conditions in the UAE are ideal for solar power generation, and the government is assigning large swathes of barren land for solar parks (both photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)), which will help satisfy local demand as well as meet export requirements.”
The Senior Power Analyst stated that the country has several support mechanisms such as smart Dubai initiatives, net metering, and auctions. UAE aims to generate 50 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources, driven mainly by solar PV, by 2050.
“Abu Dhabi plans to install 5.6 GW of solar PV capacity by 2026 and Dubai aims to source 75 percent of its electricity generation from renewables by 2050. These targets are expected to aid the rapid deployment of renewable power plants in the country,” Mr. Saibasan added.
