{"id":1395,"date":"2025-04-07T08:50:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T04:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.utilitybusinessmena.com\/?p=1395"},"modified":"2025-04-07T08:50:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T04:50:50","slug":"taqa-ewec-to-develop-9-8b-bln-energy-infrastructure-in-abu-dhabi-to-support-ai-net-zero-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/electricity\/taqa-ewec-to-develop-9-8b-bln-energy-infrastructure-in-abu-dhabi-to-support-ai-net-zero-goals","title":{"rendered":"TAQA, EWEC to develop $9.8B Bln energy infrastructure in Abu Dhabi to support AI, net zero goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA)<\/a> and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC)<\/a> have signed a power purchase agreement to develop 1 gigawatt (GW) of new open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) generation capacity, the companies said on Thursday, in a move that aligns with the UAE\u2019s Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 and its Net Zero by 2050 initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project, to be fully owned and operated by TAQA under a 24-year agreement, is part of a broader AED 36 billion ($9.8 billion) investment in the emirate\u2019s power infrastructure. TAQA Transmission, a subsidiary of the energy firm, will also develop and deploy advanced grid infrastructure to integrate the capacity into Abu Dhabi\u2019s power network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal is a major step toward boosting reliable power supply as the UAE prepares for increasing electricity demand driven by AI and digitalization initiatives. It also complements EWEC\u2019s recently announced giga-scale \u201cround-the-clock\u201d renewable energy project with Masdar, which will deploy 5.2GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity and 19GWh of battery storage to deliver 1GW of renewable power continuously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project enables the delivery of reliable, low-carbon power \u2014 a key enabler of the global energy transition,\u201d said Jasim Thabet, Group CEO and Managing Director of TAQA, and Vice Chairman of Masdar. \u201cAs the largest shareholder in Masdar and through our grid and generation expertise, TAQA is helping ensure the UAE\u2019s clean energy ambitions are met without compromising energy security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership will allocate roughly 75% of the AED 36 billion investment toward renewable and conventional generation assets, while 25% will go toward transmission infrastructure. Grid investments will be added to TAQA\u2019s regulated asset base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EWEC\u2019s Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Ali Alshamsi said the agreement is designed to \u201caccelerate the nation\u2019s energy transition while laying the groundwork for an AI-powered future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis collaboration sets a global benchmark for sustainable, digitally enabled energy systems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new OCGT plant, located in the Al Dhafra region, is designed to respond rapidly to fluctuating power needs and will support baseload reliability as more intermittent renewables enter the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EWEC, which oversees power and water supply in the UAE, currently supplies more than 55% of Abu Dhabi\u2019s electricity from clean or renewable sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The utility also aims to decarbonize water production, shifting over 92% of output to be powered by reverse osmosis technology by 2031. This will slash carbon emissions from 16kg to 1kg of CO\u2082 per cubic metre of water, the company said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The deal is a major step toward boosting reliable power supply as the UAE prepares for increasing electricity demand driven by AI and digitalization initiatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,40,428,520,41],"tags":[1501,393,182,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-1395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-electricity","8":"category-news","9":"category-power","10":"category-projects","11":"category-renewable-energy","12":"tag-ahmed-al-shamsi","13":"tag-emirates-water-and-electricity-company-ewec","14":"tag-jasim-thabet","15":"tag-taqa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeltech.com\/utilitybusinessmena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}