SAYED AL-HAJJAR (ABU DHABI)
With the aim of enhancing the private sector’s role in reducing carbon emissions and supporting the UAE’s journey towards climate neutrality, commercial, industrial, and educational institutions in Abu Dhabi are increasing their efforts to produce clean electricity through small-scale solar energy projects on rooftops and parking lots.
In this regard, Emerge, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and EDF Group, recently announced new agreements with several facilities to develop projects in the fields of small-scale solar energy, energy efficiency, street lighting, energy storage batteries, off-grid solar power stations, and hybrid solutions for commercial and industrial sectors.
Emerge recently signed an agreement with the American Community School (ACS) in Abu Dhabi to implement a 1 megawatt peak solar photovoltaic project on the ACS’ new environmentally sustainable campus on Saadiyat Island.
The project contributes to meeting 35% of the school’s annual energy needs, preventing the release of 770 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. It aligns with the sustainability goals of the UAE and its strategic initiative to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
The installation of 1,380 solar units across the rooftop and parking lots will be carried out by Emerge, covering all aspects from financing, design, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance for 25 years.
Miral, Abu Dhabi’s leading creator of immersive destinations, recently announced the signing of an agreement with Emerge to develop a 524 kW peak solar photovoltaic project on Yas Bay waterfront. The project aims to prevent the release of 450 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
The new project includes the installation of 920 solar units on the Yas Bay waterfront. Emerge will be responsible for the complete development of the project, including all financing, design, procurement, construction, operations, and maintenance required for the solar units for 30 years. This marks the third collaboration between Miral and Emerge.
In March of last year, Miral inaugurated a solar photovoltaic project on the roof of the “Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi” building on Yas Island, making it the largest rooftop solar project in the capital, Abu Dhabi.
The project includes about 16,000 solar units covering an area of 36,000 square metres, providing approximately 40% of the facility’s annual energy needs, with its 7-megawatt peak capacity.
In 2022, Miral and Emerge signed an agreement to develop a rooftop solar project with a capacity of 8.4 MW at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi.
In January last year, Emerge signed an agreement with Coca-Cola Al Ahlia Beverages, Coca-Cola’s bottler and distributor in the UAE, to develop a 1.8-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) plant for its Al Ain facility.
This station, located within the Coca-Cola Al Ahlia Beverages facility in Al Ain, will include ground-mounted solar units, as well as others on the facility’s rooftop and parking areas. Emerge will be responsible for the design, procurement, construction, and the handling of the operation and maintenance for 25 years.
In December 2022, Emerge entered into a strategic partnership with Al Dahra, one of the largest integrated agri-businesses in the Middle East, to establish a rooftop solar unit at Al Dahra Food Industry at Khalifa Industrial Zone Facility Abu Dhabi (KIZAD).
Solar panels will be installed on the rooftop of the rice factory building, providing approximately 45% of the facility’s annual energy needs. Under the agreement, Emerge will develop the integrated project with a peak capacity of 1.2 megawatts, covering design, procurement, construction, as well as the operation and maintenance of the project.
In October 2022, Emerge announced the signing of an agreement with Khazna Data Centres to develop a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic plant to power Khazna’s new data center in Masdar City.
The plant, which has obtained Abu Dhabi’s Department of Energy Solar Photovoltaic (PV) self-regulating generation licence, will have an installed capacity of 7-megawatt peak and will provide electricity to the Khazna Abu Dhabi 6 (AUH 6) facility. Emerge will be responsible for the entire project execution, including financing, design, procurement, construction, operations, and maintenance for 25 years.
In 2021, Masdar completed a solar photovoltaic project with a capacity of 3 megawatts at the parking lots of the new Abu Dhabi International Airport. The project involved the installation of solar panels on the shaded parking structure designated for short-term parking at the new Airport building, totalling 7,542 modules for electricity generation.