REmap UAE Launch

This report is one of the first three country analyses under IRENA's REmap 2030 project, which evaluates how the world can meet the United Nations' Sustainable Energy for All goal of doubling the global share of renewable energy by 2030. The project maps how renewable energy can grow in the power, industry, buildings, and transport sectors. Health and environmental benefits are also included in the analyses, and in the case of the UAE, they could amount to additional annual net savings of USD 1 to 3.7 billion by 2030.

The report cites sharp declines in renewable energy costs in the UAE, as well as rising costs for natural gas, as the key drivers for renewable energy's financial attractiveness. Solar PV costs, for instance, have fallen by 80% since 2008, while the cost of new gas supplies in the UAE has grown from under USD 2.5/MMBtu (million British thermal units) in 2010 to USD 6-8/MMBtu for domestic production and USD 10-18/MMBtu for imports today, even after the recent decline of oil and LNG prices. The report estimates that solar, wind, and waste-to-energy are preferable for power generation when new gas is above USD 8/MMBtu – making them immediately competitive in the UAE, where natural gas supplies almost 100 per cent of power. The report notes that solar and wind are still challenged by intermittency, which will require natural gas to fill gaps in output. However, the savings from generating solar power during the daytime, instead of consuming gas, are so great that they could justify 17,500 megawatts (MW) of PV in the UAE by 2030, up from around 40 MW today. This launch event was hosted by the Masdar Institute for Science and Technology with the support of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Contacts: Deger Saygin; Nicholas Wagner