00:00Under-Secretary, the political temperature in the region is very hot right now.
00:04There's a lot of rhetoric being banded about.
00:06How's that affecting your ability to deliver continuity of services?
00:11This is not a big secret.
00:13We are going through a crisis.
00:16The first few months were very difficult.
00:18But what I'm glad to say is going through this crisis has come up with two clear messages.
00:27One is that the strategy that we have called for the energy sector in the country was actually the right
00:34strategy.
00:35We diversified all our sources of energy.
00:38As you know, we have nuclear source of energy.
00:40We have renewables.
00:42We have fossil fuel based.
00:43And we're also working in the future on other potential future fuels like hydrogen and others.
00:49So to diversify the energy sources was a right decision to make.
00:53And it has helped in terms of making sure that our systems continue to operate and the services were uninterrupted
01:00during the entire period of the crisis.
01:02Saying that, of course, we also have learned a lot from the current crisis when it comes to the design
01:08of our facilities,
01:09when it comes to the capacities that we are building, when it comes to the redundancy in the systems itself.
01:15Things are going to simple things like sparing philosophies that have to be revisited.
01:20Now, taking into consideration some of the threats that we have been encountering over the past few months.
01:27But I'm glad to say that we have proven ourselves during this crisis.
01:32And if anything, we are bouncing back stronger.
01:35You talk about diversification of energy sources.
01:39How's that impacted by a situation like this?
01:43Obviously, from day to day, most people around the world know you for petrol, for oil.
01:48But as you move away from that, how is the crisis also affecting your ability to diversify?
01:54Well, if we talk about fossil fuel, for one, I think we have made very smart investments in terms of
02:06having our export routes diversified.
02:09In the case of our oil exports, it has continued during the crisis.
02:14It was interrupted maybe in terms of capacity, but we have continued to export.
02:19And we're seeing further improvement in that as time goes by.
02:24When we look at the other sources of energy, of course, thank God, I think renewable energy,
02:29we are blessed with having a lot of sun in this region.
02:32And we are getting, you know, some of the cheapest kilowatt hours that renewable energies can produce in the world,
02:40here in the UAE.
02:41And we're only expanding on that.
02:43Today, we have around 8.2 gigawatts of solar capacity already installed.
02:48And this will only grow, we're expecting to go to up to 20 gigawatts by the year 2031, even more
02:57than that.
02:57So there are massive projects coming on their way over the next few years.
03:01You're talking about projects, walking around Adipak today, there's been a lot of talk about AI, data centres and that
03:07transition.
03:08You're talking about increased energy supply.
03:10How much would it be going to the likes of data centres and moving away from fossil fuels to power
03:16these energy-hungry machines?
03:18This is actually, it's not only a challenge in the UAE.
03:21I think it's a global challenge.
03:23Because the growth you're seeing is no longer even exponential.
03:28It's a vertical growth.
03:29That's massive.
03:30To actually address that, you really need to be on top of the technology available and how you actually plan
03:37your expansion.
03:39We are looking at many factors when it comes to data centres.
03:43We are starting at the core, i.e., we're looking at how to make the data centres in the UAE
03:49much more efficient.
03:49We are actually partnering up and discussing with the private sector where we can actually see in certain examples of
03:57where we have improved or there have been actual cases where power consumption has improved by 40% in certain
04:04data centres by the utilisation of AI tools.
04:07So, we're looking at it from an energy deficiency perspective first, and then we are addressing it from a planning
04:14perspective second.
04:14I.e., how do we address all of this expansion that we're seeing?
04:19How do we address the challenges when it comes to cooling?
04:21And how do we capitalise on the infrastructure that we already have built in the UAE?
04:28So, this is a challenge that we are living through, but we are planning properly for the future.
04:33Obviously, you're the undersecretary for petroleum, etc.
04:35So, data centres is slightly out of your remit, but just hearing you talk there, are there lessons you could
04:41teach Europe in terms of powering data centres as they are interested in growing that market?
04:48I think, to be honest, it's not about teaching.
04:51I think how governments interact, we learn from each other.
04:55Well, this is the good thing in terms of the bilateral relationships we have with many countries, is we always
05:02believe in sharing good practices and learn from others.
05:06And this is really what has benefited us, you know, from when the country was established.
05:11We believe in partnerships.
05:12We believe in successful, fruitful partnerships.
05:15I think we have very good practices when it comes to data centres.
05:18We're actually, you know, even looking at, you know, how we can actually start rating these data centres and see,
05:24you know,
05:24which ones are rated from an energy efficiency perspective, from a climate neutral perspective.
05:29You know, we're looking at these kind of things.
05:31So, there are good practices that we have, and I'm 100% sure there are excellent practices in Europe that
05:36we are actually exchanging views on with our counterparts in other governments.
05:40I know we're tight on time, so I'll keep it short.
05:42But just finally, you know, with the next few days ahead of us, a lot of uncertainty, but also a
05:47lot of positivity.
05:48What would your message be to Europe and the world as we look forward?
05:52I think my key message is what we have, as the UAE, proven historically, is the UAE has and will
06:00remain a very reliable energy supplier.
06:03We are committed to our strategy when it comes to the energy transition.
06:07We're working towards what we are committed to in terms of going to net zero by the year 2050.
06:13And we will work with all our partners.
06:15We believe in partnerships, successful strategic partnerships that add value at both ends.
06:21And we will continue doing that.
06:23That has been our DNA from day one.
06:25And we will continue working that way as we move forward.
06:28A positive way forward.
06:29Thank you so much for your time today.
06:31You're welcome.
06:32Thank you for having me.
06:33Thank you for having me.
