The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DOE) has outlined nine initiatives to help accelerate the UAE's sustainable economic growth while supporting the country's Net Zero By 2050 strategic initiative.
The projects were outlined during the UN's Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow, where world leaders are meeting with the aim of reducing global warming.
It is predicted electricity generation by 2025 will be 7 per cent produced from solar PV sources and 47 per cent from nuclear
Awaidha Al Marar,
Abu Dhabi Department of Energy
Earlier this week, the UAE announced its intention to reach net zero carbon by 2050 – the first country in the Gulf to make this commitment.
The Dh600 billion ($163.3bn) pledge was hailed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as “ambitious” and “important".
The nine existing and planned projects have the combined potential of reducing emissions associated with power generation and water production by at least 50 per cent in the next 10 years.
This would drive total emission reductions of more than 29 million tonnes per year by 2030.
The UAE initiatives include:
- Noor Abu Dhabi solar PV plant projected to avoid up to 1 million tonne of CO2 emissions per year
- Barakah nuclear power plant to avoid 21 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year
- Al Dhafra 2GW single site solar PV plant which could reduce 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions
- Two additional solar projects with a combined capacity of 2GW and potential to avoid 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions
- Two waste-to-energy plants in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain expected to help reduce 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Awaidha Al Marar, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, said Abu Dhabi was committed to leading the transition to renewable and clean energy.
“Building on a 15-year track record of climate innovation and on the UAE’s enduring support for the [2015] Paris Climate Agreement, our commitment is underpinned by a strategic shift to low-carbon technologies with large-scale investment in solar and nuclear energy to drive down emissions,” said Mr Al Marar.
“For instance, Abu Dhabi has developed a world-class sustainability investment vehicle through the launch of Masdar City in 2008 as one of the world’s first carbon-neutral developments.
"Since then, we’ve taken the lead regionally in deploying renewable energy.”
The transition to renewables
The emission-reducing policies include clean energy generation from solar and nuclear sources and the electrification of the water production system through reverse osmosis (RO) technology.
Mr Al Marar said energy production in Abu Dhabi has already pivoted towards renewables.
“Our 1.2-gigawatt Noor Abu Dhabi solar PV plant has increased the share of renewables in our energy mix to 6 per cent of the emirate’s total installed capacity in 2021 and the launch of the first reactor of the Barakah nuclear energy plant in 2020 has also increased the share of carbon-free energy production in the emirate’s energy mix to 7 per cent in 2021,” he said.
Once Abu Dhabi’s 2GW Al Dhafra solar PV project in completed in 2023 and the Barakah plant is working at full power, the total clean power generation capacity in the emirate will reach 8.8GW in 2025.
This will increase the share of clean energy capacity in the energy mix to 31 per cent by 2025, from 13 per cent in 2021.
“With these solar and nuclear projects, it is predicted electricity generation by 2025 will be 7 per cent produced from solar PV sources and 47 per cent from nuclear,” Mr Al Marar said.
“This means 55 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s electricity in 2025 will be generated from clean sources and is expected to cut power generation emissions from 40 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2020 to approximately 20 million tonnes in 2025,” he added.
Water production
The production of water in the UAE creates high emissions, so Abu Dhabi is introducing reverse osmosis (RO) systems to help decarbonise the water sector. RO systems use relatively less energy compared to distillation.
Mr Al Marar said DOE intends increase the amount of water produced via reverse osmosis from 24 per cent now, to 43 per cent by 2025, thanks in part to the Al Taweelah facility coming on stream.
This has the potential to avoid 1.2 million CO2 emissions per year.
Further projects are also expected to be introduced through 2030 with the aim of increasing the share of RO in Abu Dhabi’s total water production to 80 per cent, reducing 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
The DoE also intends to improve energy efficiency in its systems.
The Abu Dhabi Demand Side Management and Energy Rationalisation Strategy aims to reduce electricity consumption by 22 per cent and water consumption by 32 per cent by 2030.
If this is implemented, it will avoid the emission of more than 9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere – the equivalent of removing 1.5 million vehicles from the road for an entire year.
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Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing
In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.
While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.
In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all).
“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”
Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.
"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
