UAE Launches 11 Clean Energy Projects Worth $43bn in 2022

The Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei said, The UAE launched 11 environmentally-friendly energy projects worth 159 billion dirhams ($43 billion) in 2022. In an interview with the Emirates News Agency WAM, Al Mazrouei said that the UAE’s clean energy production in 2021 totalled 7,035.75 megawatts while highlighting the launch of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050. He said the country’s first unified energy strategy aims to integrate the renewable and clean energy mix to achieve “a balance between economic needs and climate goals” and reduce dependency on other fuel sources over the next three decades.

He revealed that his ministry established the features of the energy sector’s future for the upcoming 50 years by revising the National Energy Strategy 2050, drafting the National Hydrogen Strategy, and relying on the achievements already accomplished over the past five decades. In addition, the clean energy’s contribution to the country’s energy mix in 2021 reached 19.63 per cent, while the contribution of renewable energy reached 12 per cent, and the contribution of peaceful nuclear energy reached 7.55 per cent,

The minister stressed that UAE has considerable potential in the field of solar power, adding that the low cost of solar power will enhance the country’s energy security and competitiveness, in addition to playing a pivotal role in achieving carbon neutrality. He noted that the rise of renewables requires transportation upgrades and investment in storage technologies to meet energy requirements reliably. He stressed that the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant is a leading innovative energy project in the energy transition process. Once fully operational, he added that its four reactors would offset 22.4 million tons of carbon emissions annually, the leading cause of climate change.