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Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) plans to invest 40 billion dirhams ($11 billion) by 2030 in its power infrastructure and become a champion of low carbon power and water desalination.
Growth will come through increased power, water and network capacity needed in UAE, as well as from selective opportunities internationally, the integrated utility company said in a statement on Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
The shift in strategy follows the state-backed Abu Dhabi Power Corp (ADPower) taking control of the energy firm last year as it transferred the majority of its water and electricity generation, transmission, and distribution companies to TAQA in return for an 98.6 percent ownership of the company.
In the statement TAQA said it will execute substantial UAE-based infrastructure and networks growth projects and invest an additional AED 40 billion by 2030 to grow its UAE regulated asset base.
Jasim Husain Thabet, TAQA’s Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, commented: “We will expand our portfolio of renewables and highly efficient water desalination, drive efficiency in our networks and distribution business and invest in growing the UAE Regulated Asset Base.”
He said the company had a strong pipeline of existing projects and was ready to seize further opportunities.
Other plans include increasing gross power capacity from 18 gigawatt (GW) to 30 GW in the UAE and add up to 15 GW internationally.
It also plans to expand its reverse osmosis technologies to make up two-thirds of its desalination capacity by 2030 with 200 MIGD already under construction
TAQA will focus on renewable energy, particularly solar photovoltaic (PV), to comprise more than 30 percent of the power generation portfolio by 2030, up from the current 5 percent.
Within the oil and gas sector, TAQA said it would focus on commercially viable opportunities to reduce exposure to the sector. TAQA said it expects to issue a follow-on public offering, subject to market conditions and shareholder approval. In November last year, it raised the foreign ownership limit in the company to 49 percent in a bid to attract investors.
For 2020, TAQA reported a fall in net profit to 2.8 billion as revenues fell on lower commodity prices and production volumes within the hydrocarbon sector.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
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