"Abu Dhabi has illustrated a remarkable step-change in the way the Emirate generates power through an enhanced focus on sustainability and renewable technologies," said Jasim Husain Thabet, chief executive and managing director at ADPower. "The water and electricity sector intends to play a critical role in meeting the target of having 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi's energy needs served from renewable and clean energy sources by 2030, as well as the reduction of the generation system's average carbon intensity by more than 70 per cent, compared to 2015."
Othman Al Ali, chief executive at EWEC, said the new project further underlined the cost competitiveness of renewable energy technologies. "The cost-competitiveness of the bids received is truly remarkable - positioning Abu Dhabi as one of the world's most attractive markets for solar energy development and reinforcing the economic benefits now achievable through renewable technologies," he said. "Securing such competitive tariffs on our energy projects is fundamental to support economic growth across all sectors in the UAE. We look forward to signing the Power Purchase Agreement and to delivering the project in Q2 2022." The news came on the same day as influential analyst firm BloombergNEF published its latest report on global renewable energy costs, confirming solar and onshore wind costs continued to fall last year, meaning renewables are now the lowest cost means of providing new generation capacity in regions that are home to over two thirds of the world's population.