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Ewec Meets 80% Of Power Demand Using Renewable Energy | |
| Sumita Pawar |
According to the news, the UAE’s Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) has, for the first time, met 80 percent of total power demand in Abu Dhabi using renewable and clean energy from its solar and nuclear energy plants.
In the process, Ewec supplied approximately 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of the total 7.7 GW system power demand.
As highlighted in the report, the significant achievement of meeting 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.
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Ewec is investing in the development of utility-scale solar power and low-carbon intensive reverse osmosis (RO) water desalination projects to speed up the strategic implementation of Abu Dhabi's energy transition. This is done to reduce reliance on hydrocarbons and separate water production from power generation.
By 2030, Ewec aims to raise Abu Dhabi’s solar power generation to approximately 7 GW and produce more than 90 percent of its water using RO plants, according to the report.
Ewec’s strategy supports the realisation of the Department of Energy's goals, including Abu Dhabi’s Clean Energy Strategic Targets 2035 and the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036, ultimately contributing to the achievement of UAE Net Zero by 2050 goals.
Chief Executive Officer of Ewec Othman Al Ali said, "Ewec is very proud to have met such a high percentage of power demand with clean and renewable 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 decarbonization 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."
Easa Alzarooni, System Operations Executive Director at Ewec, commented, "Ewec is forging ahead in 2023, the ‘Year of Sustainability’, with yet another key achievement: 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 and advanced analytical capabilities and operational planning to balance supply and demand with our sustainability goals."
According to the report, the delivery of renewable and clean energy was enabled by solar power generation connected to the grid, which includes power from Shams CSP and Noor Abu Dhabi in addition to power from the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.
Ewec’s current and future renewable energy projects, combined with the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, are forecast to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent, from more than 40 million metric tonnes in 2020 to approximately 20 million metric tonnes by 2025.