Dubai's clean energy now makes up 9% of total energy mix: DEWA CEO

Dubai — Dubai, the second largest emirate in the seven-member UAE federation, has exceeded its clean energy target for 2020 with renewables making up 9% of its energy mix, a top official said on Sunday.

Under the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority was supposed to generate 7% of its power from clean energy by 2020, the utility's CEO Saeed al-Tayer said in a statement on Sunday.

DEWA's total installed capacity has reached 11,700 MW, including 1,013 MW of solar PV power, he added.

DEWA started in 2013 providing solar power from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which has planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030 at an estimated investment of 50 billion dirhams ($13.6 billion).

The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 aims to provide 25% of power from clean energy by 2030 and 75% by 2050 mostly through concentrated solar and solar photovoltaic projects.

Record PV price

Meanwhile, ADPower, a water and electricity company based in the capital of Abu Dhabi, announced in April it had received the world's lowest solar PV price of 1.35 US cents/kWH for the country's largest 2,000 MW solar project.

Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich emirate pumping most of the UAE's crude, is also building the Gulf region's first nuclear power plants as part of plans to diversify power generation sources.

Once all four nuclear reactors are up and running, the plants will supply up to 25% of the UAE's electricity needs or 5,600 MW.

The UAE, which currently relies mostly on gas for power and water generation, is adding renewable energy and nuclear power to its energy mix as it frees up gas for consumption in industries and other sectors.