Photo: A person looks at a solar panel farm/by AFP
By AFP - Agence France Presse
The United Arab Emirates announces giant solar park with batteries
The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced plans to build a giant solar park with battery storage capable of providing continuous renewable energy.
State-owned renewable energy company Masdar said the project will feature five gigawatts of solar capacity and 19 gigawatt-hours of storage.
The configuration will enable the supply of one gigawatt of uninterrupted energy, said the company's head, Sultan al-Jaber, who is also the UAE's industry minister.
The solar farm is scheduled to be fully operational by 2027, at an estimated cost of $6 billion, according to Masdar.
“This is a first step that could become a giant step,” said Jaber.
Although solar energy is growing in the United Arab Emirates, the country still generates most of its electricity by burning natural gas.
The Gulf country is among the world's largest oil exporters but is investing heavily in clean energy.
In 2023, the country hosted the UN's COP28 climate summit, which called for the phasing out of fossil fuels.
Jaber said, however, that battery storage currently represents only “a small fraction of overall energy demand”, which is increasing due to trends such as electrification and AI-driven data centers.
He added that a “premature” reduction in dependence on other energy sources would be “self-defeating”.
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