The UAE Remap 2030 Launch Ceremony

As part of its initiatives to contribute toward the development of the United Arab Emirates, the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) hosted a ceremony on 7 April 2015 for the launch of a new report ‘Renewable Energy Prospects - UAE REmap 2030’. The ceremony was organized by the Directorate of Energy and Climate Change at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). H.E. Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber, Minister of State, attended the event besides a large number of experts, academics and specialists in the fields of energy, environment and sustainability in the UAE, Gulf countries and beyond.

The ceremony began with a Welcoming Note by His Excellency Dr. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi, Director General of the ECSSR, in which he addressed the major landmarks on the UAE’s shift toward the energy of the future. His Excellency also highlighted the importance of launching UAE Remap 2030 and called it a new landmark in this direction.

H.E. Adnan Amin, Director General of IRENA, spoke about objectives driving the renewable energy sector and the attempts being made to double the share of this sector in the global energy mix. He said that the preparation of a road map until 2030 emanated from this idea. H.E. Adnan Amin highlighted the efforts being made by various countries to expand the use of renewable energy and specifically mentioned the experiences of China and Denmark among others.

H.E. Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to IRENA, discussed the UAE Remap 2030 in detail, including the use of renewable energy, particularly solar, wind and biomass, and explained its growing economic feasibility to the UAE. He said that the cost of using these sources in the generation of electrical power has become cheaper than natural gas.

Following these presentations, Dr. Rabia Ferroukhi, Senior Programme Officer-Policy Advice and Deputy Director, Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre (IRENA), chaired a discussion panel comprising international energy experts. The experts included Dolf Gielen, Director of the Innovation and Technology Center at IRENA, Dr. Sgouris Sgouridis, Assistant Professor at Masdar Institute and Hannes Reinisch, Energy Adviser at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ceremony concluded with a question and answer session in which panelists discussed the future of renewable energy in the world with the audience. They also discussed the importance of formulating maps of the renewable energy sector.