Dubai: Abu Dhabi has nine ongoing and planned clean energy based projects for the next 10 years, and which combined will reduce emissions in the power generation and water production space by nearly 50 per cent.
Nuclear and solar power will continue to drive that shift to clean energy. “Our 1.2GW Noor Abu Dhabi Solar PV plant has increased the share of renewables in our energy mix to 6 per cent of the emirate’s total installed capacity, and the launch of the first reactor of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in 2020 has also increased the share of carbon-free energy production in the emirate’s energy mix to 7 per cent,” said Awaidha Al Marar, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy.
The announcement comes as the UAE affirms its plans to get 'Net Zero 2050'.
The plan is to have 55 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s electricity generation in 2025 to be generated from clean sources, which will cut related emissions from 40 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2020 to approximately 20 million tonnes. “With these solar and nuclear projects, it is predicted to influence electricity generation by 2025 to be 7 per cent produced from solar PV sources and 47 per cent from nuclear," he added.
The main existing and planned projects in Abu Dhabi’s energy sector that could cut emissions of more than 29 million tonnes per year by 2030 include:
• Noor Abu Dhabi Solar PV plant, which is projected to avoid up to 1 million tonne of CO2 emissions per year;
• The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant that will remove 21 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year;
• Al Dhafra 2GW Single Site Solar PV Plant, which could reduce 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions;
• Two additional solar projects with a combined capacity of 2GW and potential to cur 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions; and
• Two waste-to-energy plants in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain expected to reduce 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Cut down usage
Abu Dhabi's Demand Side Management and Energy Rationalization Strategy aims to reduce electricity consumption by 22 per cent and water consumption by 32 per cent by 2030. Its implementation will avoid the emission of more than 9 mt of CO2 emissions – which works out to be the equivalent of removing 1.5 million vehicles from the road for an entire year.
