United Arab Emirates' energy production

Official Name: United Arab Emirates.

Summary: Among the wealthiest nations in west Asia, the United Arab Emirates holds one of the largest oil reserves in the world.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of contiguous emirates in the Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain, of which Abu Dhabi is the political, industrial, and cultural capital. It is also the largest physically, accounting for 87 percent of the UAE’s total area. The UAE has one of the most developed economies in west Asia, the fifteenth-wealthiest economy in the world in purchasing power per capita, and a higher than average Human Development Index rating for Asia and the Middle East (a measure of human well-being based on data from the United Nations Development Programme that takes into account such factors as life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living). The UAE’s wealth comes principally from its oil reserves, the seventh-largest in the world, and it is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Arab League.

The oil era in the UAE began in the 1960s when oil was discovered in Abu Dhabi, which soon led to the unification of the emirates and their independence from the United Kingdom, which had maintained a loose grip on the emirates since the 19th century. Bahrain and Qatar originally considered joining the union but became sovereign nations of their own when they could not agree on the terms of unification. Their independence and the union of the remaining emirates were established in 1971, two years after oil exports from Abu Dhabi began.

In the 21st century, the UAE’s economy has been rapidly expanding. Standards of education and healthcare are high, and in the 21st century, literacy has been elevated to levels common in the West, with illiteracy found disproportionately among resident foreign workers. One of the more liberal Arab states, the UAE is relatively well rated in matters of human rights (legally protected by the UAE’s constitution). The economy has been bolstered by the UAE’s modernization and welcoming attitude toward foreign investment.

The United Kingdom and Germany are the country’s largest export markets, and there are strong economic and cultural ties with Pakistan and India. The UAE also exports large amounts of crude oil to Japan, importing automobiles and electrical appliances; Japan was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the UAE in 1971.

The UAE’s oil reserves are about 97.8 billion barrels. In 2023, the UAE produced about 4.1 million barrels of crude oil per day. In 2021, about 30 percent of the UAE’s gross domestic product (GDP) came from the export of fossil fuels. Much of the economy’s diversification outside oil exports was due to the UAE construction industry, the wealth of which was owed to the economy’s growth in general and the need for new or rebuilt facilities such as airports, shopping malls, and government buildings.

Water and electricity are overseen by the Federal Electricity and Water Authority and the equivalent agencies in individual emirates. Electricity consumption increased drastically between 1990 and 2000 but dropped off somewhat between 2000 and 2010, based on World Bank data. In 2022, the UAE consumed an estimated 161.89 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. The UAE had a plan to install multiple nuclear power plants to address its energy needs, awarding a $20 billion contract to the Korea Electric Power Corporation in late 2009 to build the country’s first nuclear plant. Operational since 2020, the Barakah Plant has been powered by four reactors. The UAE has also contracted with German companies to produce alternative energy technologies to help meet the coming demand; there are thousands of expatriate Germans in the UAE, and the country has a long history of hiring German companies and workers to work on its infrastructure.

Masdar City

An interesting energy project in the UAE is Masdar City, a city in Abu Dhabi, built by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and funded primarily by the Abu Dhabi government. The city hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency and is powered significantly by renewable energy, primarily solar. The city was intended to be sustainable, zero-carbon, and zero-waste and is located just outside the city of Abu Dhabi, near the airport.

Begun in 2006, the Masdar City project includes several large solar power plants built by Conergy, a German company, with additional solar arrays on rooftops to provide supplemental solar power. While these facilities do provide Masdar City with a significant amount of energy, the city also relies on its connection to the local power grid. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was established there with the assistance of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007 and began admitting students in 2009.

In 2024, the existing version of Masdar City was less than one-sixth the size originally intended. It was also meant to be fully carbon-neutral and powered only by renewable energy resources. Although Masdar City is far more environmentally friendly than other cities, none of this came to fruition as planned. Some critics view Masdar City as more of a gimmick than a realistic model for sustainability and future community planning.

Bibliography

Davidson, Christopher. Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.

Davidson, Christopher. Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.

Flint, Anthony. "What Abu Dhabi's City of the Future Looks Like Now." Bloomberg, 14 Feb. 2020, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-14/the-reality-of-abu-dhabi-s-unfinished-utopia. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Krane, Jim. City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism. New York: Picador, 2010.

"United Arab Emirates." CIA World Factbook, 7 Aug. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-arab-emirates. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.