ABU DHABI - According to statistics from the Statistics Centre-Abu Dhabi, SCAD, in 2018, the emirate of Abu Dhabi achieved progress in terms of its electricity production from solar energy, increasing from 17,986 megawatt-hours in 2011 to 249,695 megawatt-hours in 2018.

The report also pointed out that 88.4 percent of the electricity produced from solar energy was transferred through the emirate's electricity distribution network while 11.6 percent was consumed internally in Masdar City.

Abu Dhabi aims to expand the development of solar energy projects to support the "Energy Sources Diversification Strategy," under the framework of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 that aims to raise the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix from 25 per cent to 50 per cent by 2050 and reduce carbon footprint of power generation by 70 percent.

These projects are in line with the Abu Dhabi's leading efforts in finding renewable energy solutions, as well as the establishment of Masdar City, the hosting of the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, and the construction of the Shams 1 Solar Energy Plant in Al Dhafra.

The report explained that the demand for electricity in Abu Dhabi reached 60,807 gigawatt-hours in 2018, and the Abu Dhabi region accounted for the largest proportion of electricity demand, reaching 60.2 percent, followed by Al Dhafra with 21.5 percent, and Al Ain with 18.3 percent.

The report showed that the electricity consumption of the commercial sector in Abu Dhabi accounted for 49.3 percent of total consumption, followed by the domestic sector with 24.4 percent, and the industrial sector with 12.3 percent.

The report showed an overall decrease in all types of fuel consumption in 2018, as well as in the activity of water and electricity by 1 percent, compared to 2017. Total consumption reached 820.751 billion British thermal units while the use of natural gas in 2018 was about 99.9 percent of the total fuel used to generate electricity.

© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.