Uni Emirat Arab
With 97% fossil generation, solar’s potential is yet to be fulfilled
The United Arab Emirates’s electricity transition is currently only a glimmer. In 2020, gas supplied 96% of all electricity. However, solar has started to make inroads, as it supplied a third of the electricity demand growth of the last half-decade; however that means two-thirds of electricity demand growth was still met from fossil gas.
With electricity demand per capita one at one of the highest in the world, with four times the global average, there is also big potential for energy efficiency, especially in regulating air conditioning in line with the solar hours.
Momentum is building throughout the Middle East for a shift to clean electricity, so change will come quickly – not least as UAE looks forward to hosting COP28 at the end of 2023.
Last updated: March 2022
Progress towards clean power targets
Uni Emirat Arab
2000–2040
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