Ras Al Khaimah is blazing its own energy path

New ventures in exploration and sustainable energy technologies signal growth for the emirate

The emirate’s mountains offer a key geographic advantage for its energy ambitions. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

One of the UAE’s strengths is diversity in unity. That is highlighted particularly in energy, where each of the seven emirates contributes something different.

Abu Dhabi, naturally, dominates the national energy picture, with its huge oil and gas resources, refineries and petrochemical plants, nuclear and solar power stations, large electricity industry, and corresponding wealth. It invests actively in energy projects and technologies, at home and abroad, through entities such as Mubadala, ADQ and clean energy vehicle Masdar. And it hosts Ice Futures Abu Dhabi, an important emerging oil exchange.

Though its once-significant oil and gas output is small today, Dubai is a centre of energy finance and trading, including the Gulf Mercantile Exchange. It has the Middle East’s second liquefied natural gas import terminal. And it has led the country’s and region’s progress in solar power through the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park, whose first phase became operational in 2013, and its Shams Dubai rooftop solar scheme which began in 2015.

Sharjah, a notable gas producer since the 1980s, has recently had success exploring for new gas, launched important strategic projects for gas storage, carbon capture and solar power, and committed its oil industry to reach net-zero carbon by 2032.

Fujairah is one of the world’s premier ship-refuelling ports, with a huge oil storage complex.

But in the far north, Ras Al Khaimah is blazing its own energy path. And the wide spectrum of its ambitions was on display at the RAK Energy Summit in November, where the innovations were as striking as the mountains that tower over the city. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, Christopher Wood, the chief executive of state-owned RAK Gas, and others outlined how the emirate is improving environmental performance, doing more with traditional resources, and exploring new resources. The emirate’s mountains, that at locations such as Jebel Jais contribute so much to its natural attractions, are also a key geographic advantage.

Ras Al Khaimah is an important industrial centre for the UAE, particularly in cement and ceramics. Fast growth, including a major new resort, mean rising electricity demand. Its Energy Efficiency and Renewables Strategy 2040 covers improving buildings and appliances, and increasing wastewater collection and reuse. The aim is to save 30 per cent of electricity consumption, reduce water use by 20 per cent, and achieve 20 per cent renewable energy by 2040.

Unlike Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, which have their own utility companies, RAK primarily relies on Etihad Water and Electricity, which covers the four northern emirates. Still, the emirate intends to promote solar power and to reach 1,200 megawatts of capacity by 2040, and to advance waste-to-energy plants. EtihadWE has begun a scheme, emulating Shams Dubai, to encourage homes and businesses to install solar panels on roofs, with 20MW of capacity available for applications this year.

Most dramatically, France’s EDF announced that it is discussing with the emirate the construction of the world’s largest pumped hydroelectric centre, of five gigawatts. This would use the natural difference in elevation between two reservoirs to help balance at a national level the variable output of renewable energy over long periods, complementing the faster response but lower capacity of batteries. The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority's 250MW pumped hydro project at Hatta, now approaching completion, is the same concept but RAK envisages a larger scale.

In traditional resources, state-owned RAK Gas is carrying out an active exploration campaign for new oil and gas with international partners. And in August it signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal Ministry of Energy for co-operation on a range of sustainable energy topics.

The company is promoting two important new resources, as its geologists outlined at the conference. The first is carbon dioxide storage through mineralisation. Capturing carbon dioxide from power plants and industries, or even directly from the air, is an important part of tackling climate change. RAK’s cement plants and other industries are a ready, large source of the greenhouse gas.

Most carbon capture plans, such as those under way in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, will trap the gas in deep subsurface formations.

RAK’s approach is different: it will inject carbon dioxide into the ophiolite rocks, chunks of ancient sea-floor now thrust up into the craggy, brown and rust-red mountains in the southern part of RAK, that extend into the eastern parts of Sharjah, Fujairah and curving south into Oman.

Carbon dioxide reacts readily with these rocks to form solid minerals that will forever keep it away from the atmosphere. This emulates the Earth’s natural geological thermostat, on a much faster timescale. The same technique has already been applied by Adnoc and its partner, start-up 44.01, at a pilot in Fujairah, which the oil giant last month announced it would scale up.

But that is not all the rocks are good for. Decahydron, a UAE-based start-up, plans to produce natural hydrogen. Hydrogen is an important potential clean fuel that could eliminate the carbon footprint of industries such as steelmaking, chemicals and aviation.

While most current plans for hydrogen globally intend to make it from gas, or by splitting water with renewable electricity, it is also known that some hydrogen occurs naturally underground. Injecting water into the ophiolite rocks could cause a chemical reaction that releases hydrogen. This process occurs naturally at slow rates, leaving veins of the mineral serpentinite, and springs of bubbling hydrogen, which can be observed in the UAE and Oman.

These plans blend earlier initiatives from other emirates, Ras Al Khaimah’s natural features, and innovative new ideas. They could drive economic growth and a cleaner environment in the northernmost emirate. And they combine federal interests with local experimentation and adaptability.