The emirate of Dubai is poised to unveil a big solar power
plant as part of a push to get five percent of its electricity from renewable
sources by 2030, Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer, vice chairman of Dubai’s Supreme
Council of Energy, said on Monday.
Under Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, the Middle
East emirate plans to reduce energy imports and climate-warming carbon dioxide
emissions by 30 percent by 2030, using its own solar power and nuclear power
imported from neighbouring emirate Abu Dhabi to reduce reliance on gas.
“In line with Dubai’s energy strategy the plan is to
have 5 percent of renewables in the electricity supply mix. This is mainly
going to be solar,” Tayer, who is also chief executive of Dubai
Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), told a news conference.
“Soon we will have a very big [solar] project in Dubai
we are trying to find a date to announce it. We have identified the
place.”
But Tayer declined to say how many megawatts the solar plant
project would have and how much it would cost.
The UAE is one of the highest per capita electricity
consumers in the world, with soaring temperatures driving up air conditioning
use from June-September, forcing energy-hungry Dubai – home to nearly two
million people – to buy ever more natural gas.
The UAE expects to start its first nuclear power plant in
2017, and hopes nuclear energy to eventually supply 25 percent of its power.
Nejib Zaafrani, secretary general and chief executive
officer of Supreme Energy Council said “multi-billion-dollars” worth of
investments were expected to fulfill Dubai’s renewables ambitions.
“The strategy of Dubai has looked at an array of
alternatives and we are talking about multi billion dollars of investment until
2030,” he said, adding that through this the emirate aimed to reduce its
energy imports by 30 percent.
Zaafrani also declined to say how big the planned solar
plant in Dubai would be but said: “It will be big enough to accommodate
this five percent target.”
Partnerships with international companies both from the West
and East are also on the agenda, Zaafrani said, but did not name potential
investors.
The aim for Dubai was to generate 71 percent of electricity
supplies from gas, 12 percent from coal, 12 percent from nuclear which it would
import, mainly from Abu Dhabi and 5 percent from solar by 2030, Tayer added.
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