EWEC (Emirates Water and Electricity Company), a leading company in the integrated coordination of planning, purchasing, and supply of water and electricity across the UAE, has achieved a new record in its delivery of renewable and clean energy. For the first time, on 10 February, at 2:26 pm, EWEC met 80 percent of the total power demand using renewable and clean energy from its solar and nuclear energy plants, supplying approximately 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of the total 7.7GW system power demand.
The significant achievement to meet 80 percent of total power demand using renewable and clean energy reflects the realisation of the future vision of the UAE’s wise leadership to develop world-class systems and energy infrastructure.
EWEC is accelerating the strategic implementation of Abu Dhabi’s energy transition to reduce the reliance on hydrocarbons and decouple water production from power generation by investing in the development of utility-scale solar power and low-carbon intensive reverse osmosis (RO) water desalination projects.
By 2030, EWEC aims to raise Abu Dhabi’s solar power generation to approximately 7GW and produce over 90 percent of its water using RO plants. EWEC’s strategy supports the realisation of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Strategic Targets 2035 and UAE Water Security Strategy 2036, ultimately contributing to the achievement of the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative.
Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, said, “EWEC is very proud to have successfully delivered such a high proportion of power demand from renewable and clean energy. Having supplied 60 percent of total power demand in December 2022 using renewable and clean sources, now meeting 80 percent in February 2023 is indicative of our at-pace deployment of sustainable energy and an example to the world of the UAE’s strategic net zero ambitions in action in advance of COP28.
Growth in our diverse portfolio of world-leading utility-scale renewable projects will play an integral role in accelerating the country’s energy transition and decarbonisation of the energy sector. We look forward to continued collaboration with our project partners as we pursue the advancement of a sustainable, efficient water and power supply in Abu Dhabi and across the UAE,” added Al Ali.
Easa Alzarooni, System Operations Executive Director at EWEC, said, “EWEC is forging ahead in 2023, the “Year of Sustainability”, with yet another key achievement by meeting over 80 percent of total power demand from solar and nuclear energy sources. This was enabled by the flexibility of System Operations, coordinating with other control centres across the UAE to provide integrated, sophisticated real-time applications, advanced analytical capabilities, and operational planning to balance supply-demand with our sustainability goals.”
The delivery of renewable and clean energy was enabled by solar power generation connected to the grid which includes power from Shams CSP, Noor Abu Dhabi, in addition to power from the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. EWEC’s current and future renewable energy projects, combined with Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, are forecasted to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent, from more than 40 million tonnes in 2020 to approximately 20 million tonnes by 2025.
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