(Yicai) June 17 -- The United Arab Emirates is developing its new energy industry, which creates many opportunities for Chinese new energy companies as suppliers or investors, according to the head of Abu Dhabi’s energy department.

Abu Dhabi has been cooperating with Chinese new energy enterprises for 10 years, Abdulaziz Alobaidli told Yicai in an exclusive interview. For example, the Al Dhafra Solar Power Plant, which is the world’s largest single solar power plant with an installed capacity of 2.1 gigawatts, was built by Chinese firms, he noted.

The power generated at the Al Dhafra Solar Power Plant can meet the electricity demand of about 200,000 households in the UAE, reduce carbon emissions by over 2.4 million tons a year, and raise the proportion of clean energy in the UAE’s overall energy consumption to over 13 percent, according to Alobaidli.

The UAE is one of the countries with the richest fossil energy resources, but its abundant solar energy also makes photovoltaic power an ideal clean alternative.

Alobaidli hopes Chinese enterprises will no longer be limited to providing products and services for the UAE’s clean energy projects, but will also invest in the UAE’s ecosystem.

Many talks with Chinese partners are no longer about solar panel procurement, but about investment opportunities, Alobaidli said. The UAE hopes Chinese firms can invest in manufacturing, education, and training in the country and work with local partners to develop products that are more suitable for a hot and arid climate, he added.

The UAE’s new energy development is not to abandon traditional fossil fuels and technologies but to promote the diversification of the country’s energy mix to make energy transformation more reliable and resilient, Alobaidli explained.

About the UAE’s crude oil export clog due to the United States-Iran conflict, Alobaidli said that Abu Dhabi will strive to ensure supply to China and help stabilize market prices, as no one wants to live in volatility and crisis.

Thanks to its crude oil pipelines, Abu Dhabi is still able to export crude oil via the Fujairah Port in the Gulf of Oman when transportation channels in the Persian Gulf are blocked, which provides the city with great flexibility, he pointed out.

The oil reserves in Abu Dhabi account for more than 90 percent of the UAE’s total reserves.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione