Rewards offered by investment in the sector must be balanced by its energy consumption amid an increasingly gas-hungry domestic market
The UAE is following the global trend of building datacentres but is assessing the impact of the energy-intensive sector on its power generation.
The OPEC member has been shifting to renewables and nuclear as part of its 2050 net-zero target, and although it has the biggest renewables sector in the Mideast Gulf—with a 70% year-on-year growth in installed capacity in 2023—it is also witnessing an uptick in demand for power, for which it relies mostly on gas-fired plants.
As a result, the UAE’s energy ministry is undertaking a review of the impact of datacentres on the sector.
“We are seeing a real effort by the UAE to increase domestic gas production and some of that will surely go to p
