Dubai gets Arab Gulf’s first, and perhaps last, coal power plant

  • Date: 29-Nov-2020
  • Source: Arabian Business
  • Sector:Industrial
  • Country:UAE
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Dubai gets Arab Gulf’s first, and perhaps last, coal power plant

The United Arab Emirates is set to become the first Arab Gulf country to generate electricity from coal. As governments increasingly turn to cleaner fuels and the price of renewable energy falls, it may also be the last.

Dubai is starting up the $3.4 billion Hassyan coal plant, with capacity being increased from an initial 600 mega watts to 2,400 by 2023. Japan's Jera Co. will supply coal under a long-term agreement with Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia, which is developing the plant.

Coal is typically the dirtiest fuel for power generation. Yet Hassyan's standards for pollution will be based on guidelines for natural-gas plants, according to Acwa. If met, that would mean Hassyan emits less carbon than the European Union and the World Bank's International Finance Corp. typically advise for coal plants.

Still, other countries in the region have abandoned plans for coal power. Oman launched a tender for a coal project at Duqm in 2018, but it was later shelved.

Most of the electricity stations in Dubai, the Middle East's main business and financial hub, run on gas.

The International Energy Agency, which advises the world's richest economies on energy policy, said Hassyan will provide 20 percent of Dubai's power when fully operational and “greatly