With robust demands for more renewable energy investment and expediting the move away from hydrocarbons, and oil and gas prices seeing record highs amid supply issues and geopolitical conflict, the MENA region is further inspired to make sustainability a way of life.

On Tuesday, the US and UAE announced the signing of a strategic partnership that will see $100 billion mobilized to develop 100 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035. 

The deal, signed during the Adipec energy conference in Abu Dhabi, is entitled the Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE) and encompasses four main pillars: the development of clean energy innovation and supply chains, managing carbon and methane emissions, nuclear energy, and industrial and transport decarbonization.

The White House described the new partnership as a major achievement for President Joe Biden’s climate agenda. The two sides will also invest in establishing nuclear technology and decarbonizing the industrial and transportation sectors. 

The financing will also go toward aiding “emerging economies whose clean development is both underfunded and essential to the global climate effort,” said the statement.

The UAE has invested heavily in developing non-fossil fuel energy sources, including building the world’s largest single-site solar power plant and the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world. The country is also gearing up to host COP28 in 2023. According to the UN, fossil fuels are the major contributor to climate change, contributing to 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

SOLAR ENERGY ON THE RISE

Meanwhile, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) MD and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said that the company has added 300 megawatts of photovoltaic solar energy in 2022 from the fifth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The solar park is estimated to have a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030. With a total capacity of 900MW and a projected expenditure of over $544 million, the fifth phase is presently under construction and will be active in stages until 2023.

This year, DEWA has added 300MW to the 300MW that became operational in 2021 from the fifth phase.

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