The United States and the United Arab Emirates announced on Sunday that the first $20 billion of their $100 billion clean energy cooperation would be used to finance 15 new gigawatts of renewable energy projects before 2035. The state news agency WAM announced this.
According to WAM, Masdar of the United Arab Emirates and a group of US private investors and funded with $7 billion in private sector cash equity and $13 billion in US debt financing, among other instruments would lead the investments.
UAE and India’s joint investment in renewable electricity
Also, according to India’s Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, the two nations and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are nearing a “big deal” on a renewable energy interconnection.
Raj Kumar Singh, who is the Gulf Arab oil producer for the IRENA assembly in Abu Dhabi, where India is serving as the organization’s president, told the media that the accord was still pending final permissions. He did not provide a timeline in more detail.
According to Singh, there has been a significant agreement for an interconnection between the Indian and UAE electrical grids. Singh added that this will be done as part of the One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) program, which aims to build networks for renewable energy sources.
He asserted that there has been a consensus between the parties. We anticipate it will happen.
The OSOWOG program intends to transfer renewable energy electricity by connecting grids, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first put it forth.
There will be more investment in renewable energy
According to Singh, the UAE has also stated that it would like to invest more in India’s wind and solar energy projects.
India’s embassy in the UAE announced on Twitter on Friday that India and the UAE also inked a Memorandum of Understanding on January 13 on the development of green hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates declined to react right away.
The Gulf state and India signed a comprehensive trade pact last year with the goal of boosting bilateral non-oil commerce to $100 billion over the following five years.
Activists concerned: Fossil fuels may hijack global response to the environmental crisis
Singh endorsed the UAE’s hosting of the COP28 climate summit this year and also supports Sultan Al Jaber, president-designate of COP28 and CEO of the UAE’s national oil corporation ADNOC.
Some environmentalists who feared that fossil fuel companies would control the international response to the environmental crisis criticized Jaber’s selection.
According to the Indian minister, Jaber is the go-to person for climate change and renewable energy. He has also been working on green projects in the oil and gas sector. When you look at energy transition, you look at the entire energy sector, the entire basket.
Jaber assisted in the establishment of Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar in 2006 and serves as the UAE’s minister of industry and innovative technology.
The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf energy producers have urged for a practical transition that maintains hydrocarbons’ role in energy security while committing to decarbonization.