UAE’s EWEC to halve its CO2 emissions by 2050

03 / 05 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) plans to halve its CO2 emissions by 2050 within the framework of shifting towards more sustainable water and electricity production.

The EWEC – a leading company in the integrated coordination of planning, purchasing and supply of water and electricity across the UAE – also recommended a major investment program in new reverse osmosis (RO) water desalination projects.

Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, said: “At the core of EWEC’s business is sustainable, efficient water and electricity production as we continue to ensure supply security, and the Statement of Future Capacity Requirements Summary Report is a key reference for the likely future of water and electricity requirements. Our strategic decisions to date, and strategic recommendations for the future, show that increasing investments in renewable energy projects will allow us to make a very significant impact in changing the energy sector and prioritizing renewable production technologies. We are the leader in developing solar power projects, and we are looking forward to adding further RO capacity to lead the region in sustainable water production. Combined with the addition of nuclear power to the grid, we can significantly reduce carbon emissions and make the UAE a beacon for sustainable, utility scale water and energy production.”

Using analytical techno-economic modeling tools across a number of narrative based scenarios, the recommendations in the statement have been based on updated long-term demand forecasts projecting economic growth. Under the base case scenario, it is forecast that investment made to date in solar Photovoltaic (PV) projects, clean energy projects such as nuclear energy, and RO desalination coming on-stream in the coming years, expected CO2 emissions will drop to around 20 million tons by 2025 from more than 40 million tons in 2020.

EWEC has already implemented strategic plans that have reduced emissions. The company’s average CO2 intensity from electricity generation fell in 2018 to 350g per kilowatt-hour (kWh), 15 percent down from 412g/kWh in 2015 due to the commissioning of new energy-efficient plants.