This step was announced by US President Joe Biden, during the recent G7 summit in Japan, as this cooperation represents the first major nuclear energy initiative to be supported under the UAE-US Strategic Partnership for Energy. investment in clean energy.
The support that the United Arab Emirates and its partners have pledged will be allocated to the construction of a small modular reactor produced by the company “NoSkel” in Romania.
The participation of the United Arab Emirates in this strategic cooperation goes through the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, which will contribute to the project thanks to its extensive experience in the construction and operation of light water reactors, and by supporting aspects related to the procurement, engineering and project management.
On this occasion, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technologies, President-Elect of the COP28 Conference, said: “The United Arab Emirates, during its Presidency of the COP28 Conference, is focusing on building bridges of cooperation, promoting sustainable development, establishing effective partnerships, providing concessional financing and benefiting from clean technologies to achieve a logical, practical and progressive transition.
He added: “To achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, global emissions must be reduced by 43% by 2030, and the only way to achieve this is to work together, to establish partnerships between different countries, to cooperate with the public and private sectors, and to invest in initiatives capable of making a leap forward.” The US strategic investment in clean energy is a model for other initiatives that we hope will be launched at the COP28 conference.
Al-Jaber said, “We are pleased to cooperate with our partners in this project, which is an important step forward within the UAE-US strategic partnership for investment in clean energy. To reduce emissions from the sectors industries whose emissions are difficult to limit, in a way that supports sustainable low-carbon economic development.
The UAE-US Strategic Partnership for Clean Energy Investment was launched at the COP27 conference held in Egypt in November 2022.
This partnership aims to allocate $100 billion in financing, investment and other support to produce 100 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035.
The United Arab Emirates and the United States launched this partnership to promote new projects and technologies to accelerate the realization of a logical, practical and progressive transition in the energy sector, with an emphasis on the creation of opportunities for economic growth throughout the world, based on partnership and cooperation relations. which have spanned five decades between the two friendly countries in the field of energy.
For his part, Amos Hochstein, the U.S. President’s Special Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, expressed his delight in announcing continued support for the Small Modular Reactor project to be implemented in Romania, and said, ” It is an example of the importance of cooperation for infrastructure development, global investment and strategic partnership for energy investment, the use of new generation of nuclear energy technologies to achieve the climate neutrality and energy security objectives.
For his part, Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Managing Director and CEO of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, said: “Reducing the carbon footprint of the energy sector is a key pillar for achieving climate neutrality by 2050. , and the United Arab Emirates has placed this objective at the top of its priorities in its proactive path of transition to energy sources. Today, the United Arab Emirates enjoys a world-leading position in the field of peaceful nuclear energy and the development of new large-scale nuclear programs, as it has gained a great deal of experience through the completion of nuclear power plants Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, which has received international recognition confirmed by Our participation today with key players in this sector in the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea, to support and develop the use of advanced peaceful nuclear energy.
He added: “ENEC will provide its expertise in this regard through the participation of our experts in the development of advanced nuclear technologies in Romania, and this is one of the many measures taken by ENEC as part of its wider ambitions to UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Program, to support nuclear energy programs at all levels.” locally and internationally, by developing environmentally friendly fuel production projects, promoting green investments and employing green incentives provided by nuclear energy to support a zero-emissions economy.
He said: “ENEC will leverage its extensive institutional knowledge and technical capabilities to provide in-kind contributions to support the adoption of Noskel technology in Romania through the exchange of experiences and experts, as the Company recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nuclear Electricity Enterprise in Romania to explore opportunities in advanced nuclear technologies and activities related to development and financing, which confirms the Company’s commitment to support Romania through development programs. infrastructure needed to promote the transition to environmentally friendly energy sources.
The UAE has a proven track record in environmentally friendly energy sources, including major investments in solar power and the development of nuclear power plants in Barakah, which is the largest source of electricity environmentally friendly and green certificates in the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Arab world, as three of Barakah’s stations produce 30 TW per hour of carbon-free electricity annually, with a total of 40 terawatt hours per year when the fourth station is commercially operated. The UAE plays a leading role in ensuring energy security and stability of power grid supply, as well as accelerating the reduction of the carbon footprint of power generation projects in the country.
In hosting the Conference of Parties at COP28, the UAE is focused on mobilizing global efforts to achieve a logical, realistic, practical, just and progressive transition in the energy sector, and to facilitate access to clean energy technologies, with the aim of coping with the repercussions of climate change.
The conference presidency called for broad and comprehensive partnerships, such as the UAE-US Strategic Partnership for Clean Energy Investment, to help accelerate the clean energy transition.
In this context, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber stressed that to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the world must triple the generation capacity from renewable energy sources by 2030, in addition increase investment in hydrogen projects and technologies to reduce emissions. industrial sectors.
The Conference of the Parties at COP28 will witness the production of the first global stocktake to assess the progress made in the implementation of the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said the UAE will call for the adoption of a robust action plan to respond to the results of the global stocktake and reinvigorate momentum across all pillars of the Paris Agreement, which include ‘mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’, ‘climate finance’ and ‘loss and damage’.
Of note, since January 2023, the COP28 Conference of Parties leadership team has been on a global tour to listen and communicate with civil society stakeholders, business leaders and others, strengthening its efforts in taking more and faster action.
He stressed the urgency of saving resources, ensuring easy access to climate finance and investing in existing and new technologies to accelerate pathways to climate neutrality.
The Barakah power plants include four nuclear reactors, three of which have entered into service, while the fourth and last station is preparing to start the operational readiness phase soon, so that the four plants will produce up to 25% of electricity needs. of the UAE and contribute to preventing the release of 22.4 million tons of carbon emissions per year. .
The station is the largest source of clean electricity in the United Arab Emirates and the Arab region in general, and it produces electricity annually equivalent to billions of dollars of natural gas that would have been used in its annual production, which can be invested in more important areas.
The Barakah factories also generate more than 80% of carbon-free electricity for Abu Dhabi’s Clean Energy Certification program, which allows companies such as ADNOC, Emirates Global Aluminum and others to supply products environmentally friendly, which highlights the role of nuclear power in reducing the carbon footprint of sectors whose emissions are difficult to mitigate.
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation is currently focused on operating its reactors to the highest standards of nuclear excellence, while utilizing its position, expertise and achievements in the nuclear energy industry, to be able to identify opportunities to contribute to local and international projects and investments. in the peaceful nuclear energy and related sectors, in addition to the production of hydrogen and ammonia, as well as the treatment with heat and steam in order to use them to reduce the carbon footprint of heavy industries (which account for 10% of global carbon emissions).
It should be noted that the United Arab Emirates is hosting the Conference of the Parties at COP28, at Expo City Dubai, from November 30 to December 12, 2023. More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the conference, including heads of state, government officials, a number of international industry leaders and representatives of the private sector, academia, experts, youth, civil society, indigenous peoples and non-state actors.
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