Abu Dhabi (WAM) revealed His Excellency Eng. Aweidah Morshed Al Marar, Head of the Energy Department In Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi’s investments in renewable energy amounted to about 9 billion dirhams, in light of the continued investment in the renewable and clean energy sector in the coming years, in line with the government’s strategy to diversify energy sources and exploit renewable energy to meet the increase in demand in the future.
In an interview with the Emirates News Agency “WAM” on the occasion of the launch of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2021, His Excellency said that Abu Dhabi has many renewable and clean energy projects, on top of which is the Barakah Peaceful Nuclear Energy Plant and the Al Dhafra Solar PV Power Station, which will be one of the largest independent stations in the world to produce electricity from Solar energy and the Taweelah reverse osmosis desalination plant, which will also be one of the largest of its kind in the world.
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4 major stations
His Excellency added that Abu Dhabi also owns 4 major plants for the production of solar energy, which are the Shams 1 plant, the Masdar solar photovoltaic station, the Al Dhafra solar energy station and the Noor Abu Dhabi solar energy station.
On Abu Dhabi’s vision towards diversifying energy sources, His Excellency said that the Department of Energy has an ambitious strategy to diversify the energy sources in Abu Dhabi, which means diversifying the emirate’s economy as a whole. The objectives of this diversification are in line with the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which targets a mixture of energy that combines energy sources. Renewable, nuclear and clean energy to meet the increasing demand for electricity and to support the economic requirements and environmental goals of the UAE.
He added that the UAE energy strategy aims to raise the efficiency of individual and institutional consumption by 40% and raise the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix produced in the country to 50%, of which 44% are renewable energy and 6% nuclear energy, achieving savings equivalent to 700 billion dirhams until 2050 in addition to reducing emissions. Carbon from the process of producing electricity by 70% over the next three decades.
Power supply
He said, “We in Abu Dhabi are following this strategy in order to ensure the security of energy and water supplies and keep pace with the increasing demand for these services in the coming years.”
His Excellency said: For example, we are working to accelerate the implementation of our initiatives to reduce total energy demand through demand-side management measures and raising energy efficiency that contribute to increasing energy savings and positively impacting consumer behavior, and we also continue through our regulatory procedures and policy development frameworks, such as “Recycled Water Policy”, the Regulations for District Cooling Activities, and the Scope of District Cooling Implementation Support national strategies for water security, with a focus on managing strategic water reserves.
On the contribution of the clean and renewable energy sector to the total electricity production in Abu Dhabi, His Excellency Aweidah Al Marar explained that in 2020 Abu Dhabi produced 2.16 million megawatt hours of electricity from renewable energy sources, bringing the share of renewable energy in the total energy produced for the emirate to about 7.2% in 2020. The 1,177MW Noor Abu Dhabi solar PV plant will be commissioned by the end of 2019.
His Excellency added that when the Al Dhafra solar energy project with a capacity of 2 gigawatts is completed by 2022, it will raise the total solar power generation capacity in the emirate to 3.2 gigawatts, indicating that the full operation of the Barakah peaceful nuclear power plant will be a big addition as Abu Dhabi’s total production of renewable and clean energy will be About 8.8 gigawatts, which will represent more than 31% of the total energy mix in Abu Dhabi, more than a third of the total energy generated in the emirate within a few years.
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