Redefining the energy landscape through innovation and impact
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, ADIPEC 2025 builds on its 40-year legacy of energy leadership to unite communities, nations and industries worldwide to address the dual imperative of building resilience in today’s energy system while scaling transformative solutions required to accelerate inclusive global progress.
In an exclusive interview, His Excellency Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, explains how the UAE is turning its energy vision into reality by combining investment, AI-driven innovation, and resilient infrastructure to deliver secure, sustainable, and inclusive growth at global scale.
Your Excellency, ADIPEC 2025 centres on the theme ‘Energy. Intelligence. Impact.’ How is this aligned with the UAE’s broader energy strategy?
The theme reflects the UAE’s integrated approach to energy, where every decision must deliver measurable impact. ‘Energy’ represents our continued investment in secure, diverse, and affordable supply. ‘Intelligence’ highlights our use of technology, data, and human capital. ‘Impact’ underscores the outcomes we seek: lower emissions, greater resilience, and inclusive prosperity.
The UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050 is already delivering on these goals, with more than AED200 billion ($54 billion) allocated for clean energy projects through 2030. By that year, we aim to achieve a clean energy share of 32% in our energy mix. Masdar now operates in over 40 countries is advancing towards 100 GW of renewable capacity globally, while ADNOC produces some of the world’s lowest carbon-intensity oil at 7 kg CO2 e/boe — less than half the industry average. The UAE is turning vision into infrastructure, partnerships into projects, and ambition into action.
Intelligence is at the core of this year’s theme. How is the UAE applying artificial intelligence to transform its energy sector?
Artificial intelligence is now embedded in the UAE’s energy strategy. Last year at ADIPEC, we launched ENERGYai, an agentic AI platform that models national energy demand and supply in real time enabling predictive governance and seamless integration of renewables. Building on its success, ADNOC and AIQ are scaling the platform across upstream operations, achieving 10 times faster seismic interpretation and 70% higher precision. By the end of 2025, in partnership with SLB and powered by Lumi, ENERGYai will automate complex subsurface workflows at scale.
AIQ’s ROBUST platform is also reducing drilling time by up to 30% and cutting downtime through predictive maintenance. These innovations mean our sector can anticipate change, act faster, and operate more sustainably. At ADIPEC 2025, we will showcase how AI is not only shaping the future of energy but accelerating it.
The UAE continues to emphasise resilience. In real terms, what does resilience mean for the region and the world?
Resilience means building energy systems that can absorb economic, geopolitical, and environmental shocks while remaining reliable, affordable, and sustainable. In the UAE, we have diversified our mix, strengthened our grid, and expanded storage and maritime capabilities. Globally, we promote resilience through partnership, from the GCC Interconnection Authority to Masdar’s projects in underserved regions, and through the PACE initiative with the US targeting 100 GW of clean energy by 2035. ADIPEC 2025 will demonstrate how resilience is not just a technical requirement, but a strategic advantage.
With the rapidly increasing global energy needs by 2050, how is the UAE balancing energy security with sustainability and inclusivity?
The UAE is building a future where energy security is guaranteed, sustainability is embedded, and inclusivity is a promise kept. By combining traditional strengths with cutting-edge clean energy, we are showing that growth and responsibility can go hand in hand. Our journey is not only for today’s generation but for the generations to come. We approach this balance by being pragmatic, ambitious, and collaborative.
Pragmatic: in recognising the role of every viable energy source, from hydrocarbons to hydrogen.
Ambitious: in setting bold targets like tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling efficiency improvements by 2030.
And collaborative: in sharing knowledge, capital, and technology with partners worldwide.
Meeting rising global energy demand, while reducing emissions requires practical and scalable solutions. The UAE is investing across all viable sources (hydrocarbons, solar, nuclear, wind, hydropower, waste to energy and hydrogen), while making efficiency and emissions reduction the cornerstone of our strategy.
Our Barakah Nuclear Plant now provides up to 25% of the nation’s electricity with zero emissions. The Al Dhafra Solar PV project generates enough clean energy to power 160,000 homes and displaces 2.4 million tons of CO2 annually. Beyond power generation, we are electrifying industry, digitising operations, and expanding new grids to integrate clean energy at scale.
Inclusivity is also central to our vision. Through Young ADIPEC, we are preparing the next generation of energy leaders. Through international partnerships, we are ensuring that emerging economies benefit from investment, innovation, and technology. For us, a just transition must leave no one behind.
