UAE – Mubasher: The UAE is dependent on gas imports for power plants and water desalination plants in line with its objectives to become self-sufficient in gas supply by 2030.
GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, pointed out that thermal power generation comprised around 77.70% of the total power generation mix of the country as of 2023.
It is expected that thermal power will continue to dominate the power generation mix in the Gulf country until 2035 due to the presence of large gas and oil reserves, according to GlobalData.
The “UAE Power Market Size, Trends, Regulations, Competitive Landscape and Forecast, 2024-2035,” report underlined that the installed capacity share of thermal power in the UAE represented 80.40% in 2023.
Meanwhile, gas-based thermal power capacity dominated the power capacity mix with a share of 80.20%
Sudeshna Sarmah, Power Analyst at GlobalData, highlighted: “With the discovery of new hydrocarbon reserves, the UAE is planning to invest heavily in hydrocarbon infrastructure and seek to develop new production techniques.”
“At present, the country is in the process of choosing new locations to set up new infrastructure and seeking unconventional methods for hydrocarbon production,” Sarmah added.
Last year, gas contributed around 99.80% of thermal capacity. By 2035, the cumulative thermal power capacity is anticipated to increase further to 46.1 gigawatts (GW) from 41.2 GW in 2023, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.9% during the period.
Annual generation from thermal power sources is estimated to rise from 135.5TWh in 2023 to 155.9TWh in 2035, increasing at a CAGR of 1.2%.
Sarmah indicated: “Most of the increase in capacity is expected in gas-based thermal power rather than oil, whose capacity is expected to remain almost unchanged.”
“Gas turbine manufacturers can benefit from this increase in gas-fired power capacity,” he stated.
On a separate note, the UAE is hosting the second edition of the Green Hydrogen Summit under the theme ‘Building the Hydrogen Economy: From Dialogue to Reality’.
