COAL IN THE DESERT

Hypocrisy is a charge often levelled at Gulf nations that continue to push fossil fuels while highlighting their newly found renewable credentials. One such example is Dubai’s decision to commission the Hassyan coal-fired power plant at Saih Shuaib. Four units will be fully operational by 2023 and will produce 2,400MW of electricity for domestic use. The coal will be imported from Indonesia. Substantial investment in the project has come from China. UAE says it will be using ‘clean coal’ and even promotes the $3.4bn project as an example of a UAE-China ‘green partnership’. The plant will, it says, deploy carbon-capture mechanisms and boast improved efficiency and fewer stack emissions. Flue gas emissions will meet the standard of an EU directive on these levels. To a large extent, the project is driven by a desire to diversify energy sources amid Dubai’s continuing diplomatic spat with Qatar. Yet the Baker Institute’s Krane is sceptical of any environmental claims. ‘It’s a terrible idea, both for the climate and for the local air quality. It will lower lifespans thanks to particulates,’ he says. ‘Dubai gets a lot of its GDP through tourism from countries that are acting on climate change. It’s going to make one of the world’s most emission-rich regions even richer.’ Jreissati says the plant undermines Dubai’s wider attempts to reduce emissions. ‘Its climate change mitigation efforts cannot be taken seriously when it is building a coal power plant. No matter how you label it, “clean” or not, coal is the dirtiest energy of all and the first fossil fuel that needs to be phased out. If the UAE wants to be considered as a leading country and serious actor in the fight against climate change it needs to drop its coal ambitions.’