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UAE to invest $163 billion to diversify energy

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced today plans to invest 600 billion dirhams ($163 billion) in projects to generate almost half the country's power needs from renewables.  "Our aim is to balance our economic needs with our environmental goals," Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said on Twitter as the Gulf state unveiled its "Energy Strategy 2050".  The UAE is a top oil exporter, but has taken steps to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels to generate power, including building nuclear facilities.  The country's energy mix by 2050 will comprise 44 per cent from renewables, 38 per cent from gas, 12 per cent from clean fossils and six per cent from nuclear energy, said Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the UAE's vice president and the ruler of the emirate of Dubai.  "The plan aims to increase usage efficiency by 40 per cent and increase clean-energy contributions to 50 per cent," he wrote.  In June, Dubai announced plans to build a 1,000-megawatt solar power plant by 2030, the year it aims to turn to renewable energies for 25 percent of electricity needs.