UAE to plough $163bn into energy projects

The UAE plans to invest AED 600bn (163bn) in energy projects by 2050 and will boost the contribution of clean energy to 50 percent of the overall mix to enable savings of AED 700bn.

Under the UAE Energy Plan 2050 launched yesterday by Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the government hopes to generate 44 percent of its energy from clean sources, 38 percent from gas, 12 percent from clean coal and 6 percent from nuclear. Under the plan residential energy consumption will be slashed by 40 percent.

“Our new energy plan balances supply and demand, and takes into consideration our international commitments in terms of the environment. It also seeks to ensure a conducive economic environment for growth across sectors,” His Highness said while launching the UAE Energy Strategy 2050.

“The new strategy takes into consideration an expected annual growth of 6%, and efforts to increase the contribution of clean energy in the energy mix from 25% to 50% by 2050, apart from the reduction of the carbon footprint resulting from power generation by 70% over the next three decades,” His Highness said.

The plan is a joint effort of all energy-related authorities and all executive councils in the UAE, and was developed under the supervision of the federal government represented by the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and The Future.

“Ensuring the sustainability of energy resources guarantees the sustainability of our country’s growth. Drafting the first unified energy strategy in the country based on supply and demand is a significant achievement of the government. He who does not think of energy is not thinking about the future,” His Highness further said.

“The Gulf countries are similar in their economic structure, and we hope that we will one day have a unified GCC energy strategy in order to ensure sustainable growth for our people and global influence for our economies,” His Highness added.

The strategy will be implemented in three phases: the first aims to accelerate the move to efficient energy consumption, ensure stable sources of energy and the diversification of energy sources, while the second aims to find new energy-efficient solutions for transportation.

The third will focus on research and development in addition to enhancing innovation and creativity in the supply of sustainable energy.