Megaproject

ARABIAN GULF BUSINESS INSIGHT

Uae Plans $6Bn Solar Energy Storage PlantThe UAE will construct a renewable facility capable of providing energy at scale around the clock. The project – estimated to cost $6 billion – will be developed in partnership between the UAE state-owned renewables company Masdar and the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec). The new facility will include solar power with the potential capacity of up to 5GW, which, when combined with the storage element, will provide at least 1GW of guaranteed uninterrupted clean power. The project aims to address the challenge of intermittent power that renewable energy has been facing for decades. Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of Adnoc, told delegates on Tuesday at the opening of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week that intermittency was the sector’s “biggest barrier”. Energy storage has emerged as a critical solution ensuring that renewable energy can reliably power homes and businesses. “This will, for the first time ever, transform renewable energy to baseload energy,” Al Jaber said. “It is a first step that could become a giant leap.” The facility, which is slated to be operational by 2027, will cover 90 square kilometers and be located “in the Abu Dhabi desert,” according to Abdulaziz Alobaidli, chief executive officer of Masdar. Its construction will start “as soon as possible”, and Masdar will likely announce the awarded batteries suppliers “this week”. The scheme will be funded by private equity and debt financing, according to Alobaidli. The UAE plans to triple renewable energy capacity to 14GW by 2030, aligning with the goals established in the UAE Consensus at Cop28. The Gulf state is rapidly expanding its solar capacity, with three of the world’s largest solar plants already operational. Abu Dhabi currently has 2.5GW of solar capacity, and Ewec plans to add 1.5GW of solar capacity per year in the next 10 years, Andy Biffen, Ewec’s executive director of asset development, said. Decreasing battery prices and recent improvements in technology have made energy storage more accessible and cost-effective, while Masdar has learned from its “significant acquisitions in batteries storage in the UK,” said Alobaidli. Battery storage is the fastest growing energy technology in the world today, said Al Jaber, adding that a record 100 gigawatt of storage will be added to the grid this year, “yet this represents a tiny fraction of the overall power demand that is being driven by the megatrends and especially the surge in AI”. The UAE has the largest concentration of data centres in the Middle East and North Africa but is grappling with a capacity crunch. Before AI took off, global power demand was already on track to grow from 9,000GW to more than 15,000GW by 2035. However, with apps like ChatGPT growing by half a billion visits every month and using 10 times as much energy as a single Google search, demand by 2050 could reach as high as 55,000GW. This represents an increase of more than 250 percent. “No single source of energy can meet this unprecedented demand,” said Al Jaber.

oil-gas

Jan 14, 2025

articles found