UAE to invest $163bn in renewable energy
The United Arab Emirates plans to invest $163bn (£134bn) in projects to generate half of the nation’s power requirements from renewables by 2050.
The big oil player says it wants to balance economic needs with environmental goals.
The UAE produces around 2.99m barrels per day (bpd) of oil, of which it exports around 2.44m bpd, according to OPEC statistics.
On the World Bank’s worldwide list of CO2 emissions per capita, the UAE comes eighth below fellow Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
The gulf state does however have considerable solar power potential and is keen to reduce its use of fossil fuels.
UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said he hopes that by 2050, 44% of the country's energy needs will be provided by renewables, with 38% from gas, 12% from cleaner fossil fuel and 6% from nuclear energy.
"The plan aims to increase usage efficiency by 40% and boost clean-energy contributions to 50%. He who does not think of energy is not thinking about the future. The UAE government has made an achievement in drawing up a unified energy strategy for the country," he said on Twitter.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been the frontrunners with this green initiative. In 2014 Abu Dhabi did just that and opened the world’s largest solar power operating station and Dubai is following suit with its recent plans to construct a solar power plant by 2030.
South Korean firms are also constructing four nuclear reactors near Abu Dhabi, which is anticipated to produce 1,400 megawatts by 2020.
Elsewhere, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen pledged in November to solely use renewable energy by 2050.