Gulf Arab oil exporter Abu Dhabi plans to spend $15 billion in the first phase of a project to develop green energy and build the world’s largest hydrogen power plant, it said on Monday.
The investment would be part of the Masdar initiative, set up to develop sustainable and clean energy, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan told the World Future Energy Summit in the emirate. He gave no time frame.
“I would like to underscore the government of Abu Dhabi’s commitment to the Masdar initiative by announcing an initial investment of $15 billion,” he said. “Next month ground will be broken on Masdar city, the world’s first carbon neutral city.”
The cash will go into infrastructure, renewable energy projects such as solar power, and manufacturing, all aimed at positioning Abu Dhabi as a leader in the global clean energy market, said Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company or Masdar.
The project includes plans to build a zero carbon, zero waste city of up to 15,000 residents in the desert in the first quarter of this year.
Abu Dhabi, capital of the seven-member United Arab Emirates federation, would also build the world’s largest hydrogen power plant with 500 megawatts of capacity, Jaber said.
A Masdar official said British Petroleum and Rio Tinto would have a role in the power plant, but did not give details of their involvement.
Masdar has said it plans to develop a network of carbon capture and storage projects (CCS) to pump greenhouse gases into oilfields, reducing emissions while boosting oil output.
CCS, an as yet commercially unproven technology, should free up natural gas that is now reinjected to push oil out of oilfields. The UAE needs the gas for power generation to meet rising demand as petrodollars fuel an economic boom.
According to a U.N. Development Programme report issued last year, UAE greenhouse gas emissions were 34.1 tonnes per head in 2004, the third highest in the world after Qatar and Kuwait and well above U.S. per capita emissions of 20.6 tonnes.
Abu Dhabi signed an agreement with France this month for cooperation on the development of nuclear energy in the world’s fifth-largest oil-exporter.
Sheikh Mohammed also announced the establishment of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, with an annual prize pool of $2.2 million, designed to reward achievements in energy innovation.
Masdar’s $250 million Clean Technology Fund has already invested in various projects and Jaber said there were plans to launch another fund soon. (Reuters)
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