H.E. Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE), has outlined how Abu Dhabi’s energy transformation has dramatically changed the emirate’s energy profile over the past few years in his keynote address today at the Singapore Energy Summit, held as part of Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW).
Singapore and the UAE share a lot of similarities; especially in setting an exemplary model for sustainable development, and therefore could share knowledge and benchmark against each other.”
Highlighting the UAE Capital’s capabilities in accelerating energy transition, H.E. Al Marar emphasized the commitment of the Abu Dhabi Government to enhance sustainable development of clean energy. “Abu Dhabi is committed to pioneering the paradigm shift towards renewable and clean forms of energy. This was one of the key factors in the establishment of the DoE in 2018,” said His Excellency.
Outlining Abu Dhabi’s progressive economic vision for the post oil-era, His Excellency said: “With energy use in Abu Dhabi having more than doubled over the past decade and projected to increase by 1.4 per cent each year until 2035 due to population rise and economic growth, we recognized the need to transition our energy system towards a sustainable future and to enhance energy efficiency and rationalize consumption. Our approach is outlined in the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, the country’s first unified energy strategy based on supply and demand.”
Launched in 2017, the strategy aims to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix to 50% by 2050, reduce the carbon footprint of power generation by 70% and increase consumption efficiency by 40%.
The DoE Chairman mentioned that Abu Dhabi remains a major oil and gas supplier to the international system, however, this has not slowed the pace of its transition to clean and renewable energy sources.
His Excellency said in his keynote: “By all measures, our energy transition has been accelerated over the past few years, with key developments to promote the emirate’s nuclear and solar capacity.
“The Barakah Nuclear Plant is expected to bring 5.6 GW of clean energy to the Abu Dhabi power mix and offset more than 21 million tons of greenhouse emissions per year when fully operational.
“Abu Dhabi’s flagship Noor Abu Dhabi Solar PV Plant —one of the world’s largest solar PV plants at 1,177 MW installed capacity through 3.2 million solar panels –alone has delivered about 2.6% of the emirate’s energy requirements.
“We also introduced the Virtual Battery Plant in January 2019 – the world’s largest grid-scale advanced battery energy storage facility with 108MW Sodium Sulphur batteries with over six hours of energy storage capacity in 10 different locations in Abu Dhabi.”
Another strategic priority for Abu Dhabi is water security. The UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 aims to reduce total demand for water resources by 21%, increase the reuse of treated water to 95% and increase national water storage capacity up to two days.
H.E. Al Marar said: “In Abu Dhabi, we have set targets to minimize water losses to 10%, reduce indoor and outdoor water use intensity to 12%, and increase use of recycled water to 100% by 2030.
“Just last year, Abu Dhabi unveiled a bid for a mega water desalination project at Taweela power and water complex with RO capacity of 200 million imperial gallons a day. This project would raise Abu Dhabi’s desalinated water by RO from 13% in 2018 to 30% in 2022.
“Also, in January 2018, Abu Dhabi completed construction of the Liwa aquifer – the world’s largest reserve of 26 Mm3 of high-quality desalinated water. This project is sufficient to store 5.6 billion gallons of water, or enough to provide 180 liters of drinking water to one million people for up to 90 days.”
Other key highlights of Abu Dhabi’s water security efforts that His Excellency mentioned were water reservoir, consumption behavioral change and water demand management. This includes the launch of Abu Dhabi Demand Side Management and Energy Consumption Rationalization Strategy 2030, which features nine core programs with a high potential to reduce water consumption by 32% and energy consumption by 22% by 2030.
H.E. Al Marar said: “Improving energy efficiency will bring significant value to Abu Dhabi by reducing the need for new infrastructure, reducing natural gas and gas oil consumption and better utilizing existing resources.”
Concluding his speech, His Excellency highlighted the vast investment opportunities that Abu Dhabi and the UAE have to offer and encouraged all our stakeholders in Singapore to explore and benefit from it. His Excellency added: “Abu Dhabi is committed to investing in Research and Development and Innovation to advance our energy sector. In addition, as part of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, the UAE has announced plans to invest $163 billion in projects to generate almost half the country’s power needs from renewable sources by 2050. This confirms that Abu Dhabi and the UAE boast an attractive investment landscape.