Dubai is poised to unveil a big solar power plant as part of a push to get five per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, vice chairman of Dubais Supreme Council of Energy, said.
Energy strategy
Under Dubai's Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, the emirate plans to reduce energy imports and climate warming carbon dioxide emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, using its own solar power and nuclear power imported from Abu Dhabi to reduce reliance on gas.
"In line with Dubai's energy strategy the plan is to have five per cent of renewables in the electricity supply mix. This is mainly going to be solar," Al-Tayer, who is also chief executive of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), said.
"Soon, we will have a very big (solar) project in Dubai, we are trying to find a date to announce it. We have identified the place." A DEWA executive declined to say how many megawatts the solar plant project would have.
Energy hungry
The UAE is one of the highest per capita electricity consumers in the world, with soaring temperatures driving up air conditioning use from June-September, forcing energy-hungry Dubai - home to nearly two million people - to buy ever more natural gas.
The UAE expects to start its first nuclear power plant in 2017, and hopes nuclear energy to eventually supply 25 per cent of its power.
