Europe-based independent energy research and business intelligence company, Rystad Energy has stated that the UAE’s renewable energy capacity is set to increase four-fold to about 9 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2025, as the country begins new ventures to diversify its energy mix.
The Oslo-headquartered consultancy said in a new report, “Solar PV (photovoltaic) additions are going to pile up, especially from 2022, and drive the country’s total renewable capacity to an impressive 9GW by the end of 2025.”
The total renewable capacity of the country has reached 2.3GW at the end of 2020. The growth of the sector will be fueled by four new projects which are in different stages of development, the report added.
The new energy projects includes 2GW Al Dhafra solar project in Abu Dhabi as well as new ventures in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. The Al Dhafra plant, which is the world’s largest solar power project, is being constructed by a consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and Masdar in collaboration with France’s EDF Renewables and China’s JinkoPower.
Dubai currently has more than 1GW of installed capacity, all of which comes from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park’s three existing phases. A 200MW concentrated solar power and a 900MW solar photovoltaic scheme are currently under the development process. According to the report, Dubai surpassed the long-term green energy goal for 2020 in June, raising the share of renewables in the emirates’ energy mix to almost 9 percent.
On the other hand, Abu Dhabi has set a target of 5.6GW of solar PV capacity by 2026 and its current installed capacity stands at 1.3GW, with the solar projects of Noor Abu Dhabi and Shams contributing most to the renewable energy capacity of the Emirate.
Gaurav Metkar Senior Analyst Rystad Energy
“Despite the COVID-19 shock, the government has provided a reasonable amount of investment to continue ongoing projects. UAE has already attracted big international players in the renewable sector, a healthy sign for future business. Given the country’s current project pipeline, [the] UAE’s renewable capacity is on track for an impressive compound annual growth rate of more than 31 percent towards 2025.”
According to Rystad Energy’s report, the share of renewable energy in the overall power generation mix of the UAE will increase from 7 percent in 2020 to 21 percent in 2030 and 44 percent by 2050, because of the development of new ventures.
