Today's Edition
SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) and the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), held as part of it, underscore how Emirati expertise, advanced research and industrial partnerships are translating the UAE’s clean-energy ambitions into large-scale delivery across sectors, according to participants.
Speaking to Aletihad at the World Future Energy Summit, Engineer Khaled Alshehhi, Senior Fuel Quality and Transportation Manager at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC), highlighted the role of national talent in the UAE’s nuclear energy programme.
“As an Emirati engineer, participating in the World Future Energy Summit is an opportunity to share our experience from working at one of the most advanced nuclear energy plants globally,” he said.
In this regard, he highlighted the impact of the UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Power Plant.
Owned and developed by ENEC, the plant supplies around 25%of the UAE’s electricity needs, providing clean, reliable baseload power that supports energy security and long-term growth.
“Working at Barakah, it is clear how it has become a global reference for delivering nuclear energy safely, while fitting into a modern energy system,” Alshehhi said.
“Being part of a sector delivering always-on, carbon-free electricity at this scale is something we take real pride in,” Alshehhi added.
He also pointed to the importance of investing in people.
“ENEC’s focus on research, development and innovation has opened up opportunities for engineers like me to grow alongside the programme,” he said, describing WFES as “a great place to encourage young Emiratis to see the range of careers emerging in advanced energy”.
From Ambition to Implementation
Prof. Phil Hart, Chief Researcher of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Research Center at TII, highlighted the impact of ADSW in translating ideas into action.
“ADSW brings policymakers, industry and researchers into the same room, which is essential for moving from ambition to implementation,” he said, noting that it aligns regulation, investment and technology around deployable solutions.
Further, Prof. Hart described the UAE as an incubator for global solutions.
“The UAE will continue to act as a testbed for large-scale sustainable solutions,” he said, adding that he sees the country “becoming a major hub of sustainable technology”.
“The UAE has placed clean energy, climate resilience and technology development at the heart of its national strategy,” he said, identifying affordability as the key catalyst for global impact.
“Making sustainable technologies cost-competitive is the most meaningful breakthrough,” he added.
Prof’ Hart’s participation at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week focused on electrification and AI-enabled energy systems.
He contributed to the High-Level Dialogue on Electrification Powering Humanity, convened by UNEZA and AFID as part of the IRENA Assembly, alongside panels on AI-driven grids and powering AI data centres with renewables.
Advancing Industrial
DecarbonisationDr. Dimitrios Dimitriou, Group Vice President of ESG and Sustainability at EMSTEEL, described Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week as a critical platform for advancing industrial decarbonisation.
“Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week is a great forum for engaging with our stakeholders, strategic partners and green energy suppliers, to explore collaboration opportunities to progress our sustainability agendas,” he said.
EMSTEEL is showcasing partnerships with Modon and MERED to supply hydrogen and clean hydrogen-based rebars for lower-carbon construction, alongside investment in an on-site hydrogen electrolyser.
“Sustainability has been in our DNA since the existence of the company,” Dimitriou said, noting that it is embedded across business strategies and overseen by a board-level ESG committee.
On emissions targets, he said EMSTEEL aims for “a 40% absolute CO₂ emissions reduction by 2030 on the steel business side, and a 30% reduction on the cement business”, with a long-term goal of net zero by 2050.
“We are already capturing a large portion of our CO₂ and supplying it to our strategic partner ADNOC for utilisation,” he added.
Accelerating Shift to Clean EnergyFrom a renewables and manufacturing perspective, Dan Shugar, CEO and founder of Nextpower, said Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the World Future Energy Summit provide a vital catalyst for scaling clean energy solutions across the region.
“Sustainability Week is very important as a catalyst to announce and provide focus to the leadership that’s happening in clean energy here,” he said.
He also highlighted the UAE’s growing role in the company’s global operations.
“Here in the UAE, we are running our global procurement and supply chain as a hub,” he said, adding that reliable, low-cost renewable power is increasingly attracting data centres and AI-driven industries to the region.
“The focus on how solar can complement legacy fossil fuel to provide both reliable and sustainable power is the single greatest change we’ve seen in the electricity sector,” he said.
