UAE participates in Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2018

BERLIN, 19th April, 2018 (WAM) -- The UAE participated in the two-day Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2018, which was organised by the German Government in cooperation with the Renewable Energy Federation, at the headquarters of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The UAE delegation included Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Industry, and Awaidha Morshed Al Marar, Chairman of the Department of Energy. The conference, which concluded yesterday and was held for the fourth consecutive year, was attended by ministers of foreign affairs, energy and industry, as well as decision-makers in energy, foreign affairs and industry policies and representatives of civil society, experts and major energy companies from over 90 countries. The conference is a leading platform for discussing recent developments in energy policies and investment opportunities, as well as for addressing advancements in electricity production and creating future working models of the transition to renewable energy. In his speech during the conference, Heiko Maas, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, urged the countries of the world to exert greater efforts to face climate change and highlighted the international community’s pledge to counter global warming, based on the Paris Agreement. Al Mazrouei stressed that the dialogue is a key platform for discussing the transition of countries to renewable energy, and the UAE is a leading country in this area. He added that the UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050 will turn it from a country that completely relies on natural gas to one that relies on renewable and clean energy sources by 50 percent. Al Mazrouei noted that the renewable energy projects launched by the UAE are of global stature, including the 700MW fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the biggest Concentrated Solar Power, CSP, project in the world. The Minister highlighted the UAE’s desire to participate in the dialogue, to exchange knowledge and explore the experiences of other countries in renewable energy and other energy projects while adding that Germany is a key partner of the UAE in Europe and that there are many joint projects between them. He also delivered a lecture, titled, "The Structural Transition: Innovative Solutions to Abandon Fossil Energy Sources," where he explained that solar energy is one of the key renewable energy sources in the "UAE Energy Generation Plan," and added that it does not need government support, as the Middle East is a suitable area to benefit from solar energy. Al Marar stated that the participation of the Department of Energy - Abu Dhabi in the conference is part of Abu Dhabi’s efforts to benefit from renewable energy while adding that the conference is a platform to exchange ideas and explore recent developments in reducing emissions and production costs and maintaining sustainability. Abu Dhabi has taken advantage of renewable energy, which started with the Masdar initiative and was followed by the Shams 1 and Noor Abu Dhabi projects, which currently produce 1 Gigawatts of power while still under construction, Al Marar concluded.