Big bang steps, projects in pipeline

Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment is confident that the new target to double renewable energy portfolio in the next 10 years announced by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State in the UAE and CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, is the right approach as the country aims to raise clean energy capacity.
When asked if his task had just got tougher, the minister told Khaleej Times: "It's not difficult. Being ambitious makes you more active and interested in moving forward. When it comes to the targets (for clean energy), if you look at the numbers set for 2021, it's around 27 per cent. And by 2050, we are confident that we are going to achieve 50 per cent clean energy target. So what has been announced by my brother and colleague Dr Sultan Al Jaber is the right approach because we are going to push private sector, we are going to push technology provider and financial institutions to come here and bring their best practices, technologies, and work together to deploy large-scale projects in the country."
Elaborating on energy transition and the achievements on renewable energy capacity, Al Zeyoudi said: "We are proud of what we have achieved. Last year we jumped from 10 MW to 1,800 MW. There's another 6,500MW in the pipeline to be connected to the grid by 2030. We are going to continue with that and looking for best and innovative practices to be deployed in the country."
The minster pointed out that two new solar plant projects are to be awarded soon.
"We are going to announce two big awards. The projects are coming. We are expecting some of the private sector projects to be connected to the grid. Private-public partnership approach is something which we always apply in the country and power sector. We are sharing this experience with the rest of the world."
- ashwani@khaleejtimes.com