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The United Arab Emirates continues its journey in the energy transition with highly innovative proposals that represent a change in the minds of the country to look towards a better future. The country's five main companies, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Dubai Holding and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), have just announced that they are going to start taking joint measures to improve the planet's environmental situation.
To this end, the five brands have announced that they will begin implementing measures that will enable them to further develop solar power generation capacity in the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the near future. At the same time, they will also seek to make progress in optimising energy assets, as well as trying to decarbonise industry and aluminium production in the country, which is usually one of the most polluting industries.
Although the initiatives have not yet started to be implemented, the governments of Abu Dhabi and Dubai have yet to approve these regulatory actions and are therefore in negotiations. Their approval would reaffirm growth at both TAQA and Dubai Holding, while EGA would become a leader in driving the global aluminium industry, as it would be the first to have a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050. This is in addition to EWEC's continued development in approving projects related to renewable energy and reducing carbon intensity.
To start with the plan, TAQA and Dubai Holding will start purchasing assets capable of generating electricity, which will be provided by EGA. This power will be connected to the national electricity grid, and if the institutions reach agreements, it will be commissioned in the long term, not to mention that EWEC has to carry out the delivery of these assets.
These will be located in Jebel Ali and Al-Taweelah, and if commissioned, will start producing more than 6,474 megawatts. This is a power generation structure featuring combined cycle gas turbine technology that produces clean, renewable electricity.
The Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company (TRANSCO) will then connect the assets to the grid. This will lead to investment in the development of interconnections to improve the grid, and, if effective, their use could create new power substations, thereby strengthening connectivity in the Gulf state.
EGA would thus become the company that stands to gain the most from this new measure. The use of solar energy would directly lead to an increase in its aluminium production, so using an energy mix for the collection of aluminium would be a very effective bet.
"Today we are taking another historic step towards achieving net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We are also ensuring that EGA's global competitiveness will be strengthened in the coming decades, not only as the world's largest 'premium aluminium' producer, but also as one of the most environmentally responsible," says Abdulnasser bin Kalban, CEO of EGA.
The other companies would allow EGA to be the leader in the country, but they will also receive benefits from their participation. EWEC director Othman Juma al-Ali adds that this initiative will lead to energy diversification that will significantly improve sustainability. Dubai Holding notes that these measures are "in line with our strategy to reduce our carbon footprint".
On TAQA's side, its CEO Jasim Husain Thabet stated that "the potential acquisition of EGA's energy assets supports our 2030 ambitions to add value for our stakeholders, while supporting the UAE's sustainability efforts". He ended his statement by assuring that "working together, we will enable EGA to connect to a diverse energy mix and enable the development of additional renewable energy projects in Abu Dhabi".
