Irena details plan to double renewables’ market share by 2030

A giant rubber duck sits opposite Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, waiting for the World Future Energy Summit. Ravindranath K / The National

More than 1,000 delegates from around the world gathered in Abu Dhabi on Saturday for the release of a detailed plan to double renewables’ share of the global energy market by 2030.

Heads of state and ministers from more than 150 countries and representatives of 120 organisations took part in the opening of the International Renewable Energy Agency’s fourth annual assembly.

At the St Regis resort on Saadiyat Island, Irena detailed its “REmap 2030” plan for increasing adoption of renewable energies around the world.

The meeting is part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which incorporates conferences including the World Future Energy Summit and the International Water Summit, and the announcement of the Zayed Future Energy Prize winners.

Irena is the global centre for renewable-energy cooperation for its 123 member states, as well as the European Union.

The assembly announced the first six renewable-energy projects in developing countries to receive loans under Irena’s project partnership with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

“We are now engaged with over 165 countries,” said Adnan Amin, director general of the agency. “As more and more countries join, Irena’s role as the global hub for renewable energy is becoming ever more prominent.”

Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, Mexico’s secretary of energy and president of the assembly, told the delegates: “It is through important international platforms like this that we will secure our clean energy future.”

Figures from Middle East Economic Digest, Meed, show the total value of renewable-energy projects in the Middle East will be 36 times greater in the next decade.

Meed says US$4.5 billion (Dh16.52bn) of renewables projects and master plans are completed or under development in the GCC, including $3.5bn for solar energy.

With governments under pressure to free up oil and gas for export and use in other industries, and to meet rising demand for power and water, the total value of projects and master plans due for award in between now and 2025 stands at $162bn.

Projects include Masdar 100-megawatt solar plant in Abu Dhabi, a 1,000MW solar park in Dubai, and ambitious projects planned for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.