Bahrain plans to double its renewable energy targets in order to achieve 20% of the total energy mix by 2035 and is targeting net zero by 2060, according to Yaser bin Ebrahim Humaidan, the country's Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs. “We have engaged with several of the large industrial emitters and we have implemented a system of continuous emissions monitoring where we can monitor their emissions remotely, continuously and in real-time,” Humaidan said at the World Utility Congress. “And that also enables us to have the ability to immediately detect any violations and take corrective action.” Bahrain joins a growing number of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries seeking to reduce emissions and achieve net zero in the coming decades.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, is investing Dh600 billion ($163.5 billion) in clean and renewable energy projects over the next three decades as it aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The country is constructing the world's largest solar plant in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi with a capacity of 2 gigawatts, as well as the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park in Dubai with a 5 gigawatt capacity. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia aims to achieve net zero by 2060 and is developing a number of new renewable energy projects.
Humaidan emphasised the need for collaboration between the private and public sectors to achieve net-zero targets, noting that “both need to work together to build their efforts and amplify them together”. Suhail Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, urged “mega investments” in interconnecting power grids for the “full utilisation” of power, adding that interconnecting within the Middle East and within the Arab world could allow for greater efficiency in renewable energy projects. “There is no transition without interconnectivity with your neighbours and working together as a cluster, clusters of countries and a cluster of interlinking as a continent,” he said.
Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary at the Office of Nuclear Energy at the US Department of Energy, stated that nuclear energy is critical to US infrastructure and will play an essential part in the world's largest economy's climate transition. Huff revealed that nuclear power represents about 20% of the US's electricity and roughly half of its clean power.
She argued that in order to get to the net-zero target by 2050, it would be important to replace retiring and retired coal plants, which may require building out another 100 gigawatts or 200 new gigawatts of nuclear power in the United States.
