A major hurdle to the adoption of renewable energy is that the generation methods we use today tend to be intermittent. The sun doesn’t shine at night, and when the wind drops, then wind turbines are pretty much useless. Until we have develop methods of extracting energy from tides, or other more consistent renewable sources, renewable energy usually has to be used in conjunction with other generation technologies to fill the gaps, or to rely on mass energy storage. Batteries tend to be expensive, especially with the shortage of lithium. So expensive, in fact, that the only large scale example in the world today is just starting its commissioning stage, but when up and running, the organizations responsible hope to use it as the blueprint for further installations.
Those organizations are the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC, Masdar, and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC). They have partnered to combine a 5.2GW solar photovoltaic plant with a 19 GWh battery energy storage system, which they claim is the largest and most technologically advanced system of its kind in the world.
If the project goes fully operational in 2027 as planned, it will produce gigascale baseload energy at a globally competitive tariff. At a cost of $5.99 billion USD, the new project is expected to create over 10,000 jobs, as well as providing work to many new manufacturing facilities. If the output is as expected, the new installation will avoid approximately 5.7 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually. To get the installation up and running, the responsible organizations have adopted many cutting-edge technologies, including virtual power plant, grid-forming and black start capabilities, and AI-enhanced forecasting and intelligent dispatch.
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, the Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, explained: “Today’s groundbreaking represents a pivotal moment in clean energy transformation. This world-first project is a blueprint for the world, demonstrating that renewable energy can be dispatched around the clock. By overcoming the challenge of intermittency, we can provide sustainable power to meet fast-growing demand from advancements in artificial intelligence and other technologies. We look forward to working closely with EWEC and our partners to deliver this landmark project, which will set the global standard for renewable energy development and support other nations in delivering on their clean energy objectives.”
It is difficult to believe that this is the world’s first installation that can provide a large amount of clean energy 24/7, but by the time it is up and running, I’m sure that there will be a few more in development. The UAE location will provide an ideal testing ground with strong year round sun, and a latitude that should see many hours of sunlight, even during the winter. It is also telling that such a large amount of funding was available in an area of the world that is currently dominated by oil extraction.
