The UAE's new strategy will triple renewable energy within seven years

The United Arab Emirates plans to triple its renewable energy supply over the next seven years, investing up to $54 billion.

InfoLink data show that in 2022, the Middle East imported 11.4GW of PV modules from China throughout the year, an increase of 78% compared to 2021. In the past, the Middle East market mainly imported components from Pakistan and Israel, and in 2022, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have experienced significant growth. Among them, the United Arab Emirates is the most aggressive one.

For the whole year of 2022, the UAE imported about 3.6GW of PV modules from China, a year-on-year increase of 340%, becoming the largest module importer in the Middle East, which is three times that of Saudi Arabia's 1.2GW in the same period.

Al Dhafra power Station

The plan, announced by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum after a Located in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates, light resources are as rich as Saudi Arabia. Dubai receives an average of about 2,150 kilowatts of solar radiation per square meter per year. Solar energy has already become one of the key industries supported by the Dubai government.

The plan, announced by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum after a cabinet meeting on Monday, also includes investments in low-emission hydrogen fuel and development of electric vehicle infrastructure, among other things.

The updated national energy strategy aims to "triple the contribution of renewables in the next seven years and invest 150 billion to 200 billion dirhams ($40 billion to $54 billion) over the same period to meet the country's growing energy demand," he said.

Uae PV Plan 2017-2035; Source: Global Data Power Intelligence Center

In recent years, the UAE has made significant progress in increasing its installed renewable energy capacity, aiming to increase the share of clean energy generation to 50% in its total power mix by 2050. Currently, the UAE is one of the fastest growing utility-scale renewable energy markets in the MENA region, installing around 2GW of renewable energy generation facilities annually.

In the past two years, due to the soaring price of photovoltaic modules, photovoltaic power plant developers in the UAE have suffered delays in the delivery of photovoltaic modules, and led to the delay of some major photovoltaic projects in the region. By the end of 2022, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic systems in the UAE has only reached 3.5GW. However, with the completion of large-scale PV projects in ABU Dhabi (1500MW Al Dhafrah PV project) and Dubai (MBR PV Park Phase 4 and Phase 5, with installed capacity of 950MW and 900MW respectively), the total installed capacity in the UAE will soon reach 6 GW.

The UAE currently relies on thermal power for most of its electricity supply, which will account for 92.6% of its total power generation by 2021. However, the country is seeking to reduce its reliance on thermal power generation and shift to clean energy. The country is aiming for 30 percent clean energy by 2030.

Al Hattawi pumped storage power station