Dubai utility provider to convert Hassyan coal-fired power plant to natural gas

The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority will convert the Gulf’s only clean-coal fired power plant to run off natural gas, the utility provider said on Thursday, as the emirate seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050.

As per an agreement between Hassyan Energy Co. and DEWA, the 2,400 MW power complex will switch to using natural gas, DEWA said in a statement. The complex has been operating using coal since 2020 and includes a water desalination project with a production capacity of 120 million imperial gallons of water per day.

“This step supports Dubai’s energy supply security by diversifying the energy mix through the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and Dubai’s carbon neutrality strategy 2050 to provide 100 percent of the energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, said in a statement.

“The initiative is consistent with the pivotal role that gas is expected to play in enabling economic growth in the UAE over the next 50 years,” he added.

By 2030, Dubai aims to have an energy mix of 25 percent solar, 7 percent nuclear power, 7 percent from clean coal and 61 percent from natural gas. Overall, the UAE has planned renewable energy investment worth Dh600 billion over the next three decades.