Abu Dhabi has been pushing ahead with clean-power initiatives – and its efforts are starting to bear fruit.
Masdar, the Abu Dhabi clean-energy company, is working on what will soon be the Middle East's largest solar farm.
Shams 1, a 2.5 square-kilometre site in the desert of Madinat Zayed, is expected to feed 100 megawatts (MW) of clean power into the electricity grid, enough to satisfy the energy needs of 20,000 homes.
The largest solar installation in the country at the moment is a 10MW plant at Masdar City.
“We are busy now through the commissioning phase, and all efforts are lined up to commission this plant in the first or the second quarter of 2013,” said Bader Al Lamki, director of Masdar Clean Energy.
The plant will produce energy by using mirrors to concentrate solar power to heat up water that will produce electricity.
Masdar is also working on another 100MW plant, Noor 1, which will use solar photovoltaic cells to produce electricity.
“We are now again in the last phase of presenting the project to the decision makers, hopefully 2013 will bring light to this,” Mr Al Lamki said.
In October, Masdar crossed an important international threshold when the London Array wind farm started feeding the British power grid.
The Abu Dhabi company partnered with the Danish power provider Dong Energy and Germany’s E.ON on the project.
The British wind farm will be completed early this year, becoming the largest project of this scale in the world, generating 630MW – enough to power 470,000 homes.
Masdar’s chief executive, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, said the company would continue seeking international opportunities next year.
“Masdar will continue to focus its attention on markets where there are attractive incentives or policy mechanisms that promote renewable-energy investments,” he said.
“With tremendous growth expected in the Middle East and North Africa, we are in a favourable position as first movers to be the go-to resource to deploy renewable-energy projects.”
Besides creating clean-energy infrastructure, another important issue is to come up with policies to reduce the high rate of electricity consumption in the emirate. In June, the Regulation and Supervision Bureau of Abu Dhabi started work on a trial to assess whether pricing energy differently would affect use.
Yesterday, it announced it had installed 400 smart meters in the homes of volunteers whose energy consumption will be monitored next year. Emiratis pay a flat rate of 5 fils per kilowatt hour (kWh) and non-nationals 15 fils per kWh.
Trialists will pay higher rates between 2pm and 8pm, when demand is highest, and less the rest of the time. Emiratis will pay 10 fils per kWh during peak hours and 3 fils per kWh at off-peak times. Non-nationals will pay three times that.
In Abu Dhabi, demand reaches 9,000MW in summer, but is a third less the rest of the year. Although the peak only lasts a few months, the emirate has to invest in expensive infrastructure to accommodate it.
“It is at the top of Abu Dhabi’s agenda to conserve energy and precious resources,” said Nick Carter, the bureau’s director general.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Results
Final: Iran beat Spain 6-3.
Play-off 3rd: UAE beat Russia 2-1 (in extra time).
Play-off 5th: Japan beat Egypt 7-2.
Play-off 7th: Italy beat Mexico 3-2.
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The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
MATCH INFO
Champions League last 16, first leg
Tottenham v RB Leipzig, Wednesday, midnight (UAE)
World Series
Game 1: Red Sox 8, Dodgers 4
Game 2: Red Sox 4, Dodgers 2
Game 3: Saturday (UAE)
* if needed
Game 4: Sunday
Game 5: Monday
Game 6: Wednesday
Game 7: Thursday
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
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The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
