Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, better known as Taqa, is developing a green finance framework and plans to issue more green bonds this year if market conditions are right, the company’s chief executive has said.
“It's our intention to tap into the best available funding available in the market to increase returns for our shareholders and give us an edge for growth,” Jasim Thabet, Taqa's group chief executive and managing director, told The National in an interview on Thursday.
Last year, Taqa, together with Emirates Water and Electricity Company, raised $700.8 million through its first green bond.
The issuance of green bonds in the Middle East grew by 38 per cent between 2016 and 2020, and in 2020, Middle Eastern governments drove 97 per cent of green bond issuances, compared with 13 per cent four years earlier, the Boston Consulting Group said.
In December, Taqa acquired a 43 per cent controlling stake in Masdar’s renewables business, with Mubadala retaining a 33 per cent interest and Adnoc owning the remaining 24 per cent.
With the Masdar acquisition, Taqa will not directly invest in or acquire any additional renewable energy assets in the future, Mr Thabet said.
"We will not be investing ourselves as Taqa ... it would be through the partnership we have with Masdar," he said.
"We will be focusing more on high-efficient gas-fired power plants, more efficient seawater reverse osmosis desalination and also growing our transmission and distribution business."
Taqa is one of the largest integrated utilities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, with operations across 11 countries.
It has significant investments in water desalination and power generation, transmission and distribution assets, as well as upstream and midstream oil and gas operations.
Last year, Taqa said it would sell its upstream oil and gas assets in the Netherlands to Waldorf Energy following a year-long strategic review.
Taqa, which is awaiting regulatory approval for the sale of its Dutch assets, plans to run its existing oil and gas operations in an “efficient” way while maintaining production levels, Mr Thabet said.
However, the company’s output from its offshore assets in the UK’s North Sea will gradually decrease, he said.
“These are late-life assets and [we] commenced decommissioning [these operations] three to four years ago,” said Mr Thabet.
“We will be a responsible investor by making sure that we do the decommissioning in a safe and sustainable way.”
Taqa’s net profit from its oil and gas unit more than doubled to Dh4.7 billion in 2022, compared with the previous year, amid high energy prices.
The company has also forayed into the electric vehicles business.
Last month, Adnoc Distribution and Taqa formed a joint venture to build and operate EV infrastructure in Abu Dhabi.
The new company, E2GO, aims to become the principal provider of EV charging points and associated infrastructure across the UAE capital.
The move is a part of Taqa’s environmental, social and governance goals, Mr Thabet said.
“We're now waiting to finalise and set up the company and take it from there really. That's work in progress,” he said.
“EV adoption is increasing as car manufacturers and battery manufacturers increase their range … it's important that we have the infrastructure to support the increasing penetration of EVs in Abu Dhabi.”
EVs are projected to account for half of global car sales by 2035 and hit about 73 million units by 2040, from two million in 2020, according to a Goldman Sachs study.
While the Ukraine war has increased the “appetite” for energy transition, there is an emphasis on energy security too, Mr Thabet said.
“There's a balance. It's not an on-off switch where you can just turn it off and say I'm not going to use gas-fired power plants,” he said.
The UAE, which will host the Cop28 climate summit later this year, is “well placed” to showcase the world how an energy transition can be achieved, Mr Thabet said.
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The five pillars of Islam
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
