Strategic Overview
The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 was launched in January 2017 as the country’s first unified long-term energy plan. It establishes targets for the national energy mix through mid-century, setting a trajectory that balances continued hydrocarbon production with aggressive scaling of renewable and nuclear energy sources. The strategy calls for clean energy to contribute 44 percent of the total energy mix by 2050, with natural gas comprising 38 percent, clean coal 12 percent, and oil the remaining 6 percent. Investment requirements under the strategy are estimated at AED 600 billion through 2050.
The strategy was developed under the direction of the UAE Council of Ministers and is overseen by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure. It represents a deliberate attempt to manage the energy transition on the UAE’s own terms — maintaining the country’s position as a reliable oil and gas exporter while building domestic capacity in solar, nuclear, and emerging energy technologies such as hydrogen.
Key Targets and Mechanisms
The strategy identifies several binding targets. Energy efficiency across the economy is to improve by 40 percent. The share of clean energy in power generation is to reach 50 percent. Carbon dioxide emissions from power generation are to be reduced by 70 percent relative to a business-as-usual scenario. These targets are supported by institutional mechanisms including the Emirates Energy Award, green building codes, demand-side management programmes, and tariff reform for electricity and water.
On the supply side, the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant — the Arab world’s first commercial nuclear facility — is the single largest contributor to the clean energy target. Its four reactors, when fully operational, provide approximately 25 percent of Abu Dhabi’s electricity needs with zero carbon emissions. Solar energy, led by projects such as the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and Al Dhafra Solar PV, constitutes the primary renewable growth vector. The strategy also incorporates waste-to-energy and energy storage as emerging contributors.
Institutional Governance
Governance of the strategy sits at the federal level through the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, but execution is distributed across emirate-level utilities and authorities. EWEC (Emirates Water and Electricity Company) in Abu Dhabi and DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) serve as the primary implementing entities for generation and distribution targets. Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company, operates as the commercial arm for renewable project development both domestically and internationally.
The strategy was updated following COP28 in Dubai (2023), incorporating the UAE Consensus outcomes including the commitment to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. This update introduced accelerated timelines for renewable capacity additions and new provisions for green hydrogen production and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS).
Intersection with National Programmes
The Energy Strategy 2050 sits at the centre of multiple programme intersections. It connects directly to the Net Zero 2050 Strategic Initiative, which sets the federation’s overall decarbonisation target. It intersects with the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 through desalination energy demand. It underpins Operation 300bn through energy-intensive industrial development. And it informs the UAE Green Agenda 2030, which focuses on green growth across economic sectors.
The strategic calculus embedded in the plan is distinctive. Unlike European energy transitions premised on rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, the UAE strategy is additive — it builds clean energy capacity on top of a maintained hydrocarbon base, aiming to capture value from both sides of the energy transition simultaneously. Whether this dual positioning remains viable through 2050 will depend on global demand trajectories, carbon pricing regimes, and the pace of technological disruption in energy storage and hydrogen.