Oil-rich nation building its first coal power plan

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A new wonder is rising in the southern desert of Dubai against the backdrop of Persian Gulf beaches, but it’s not another skyscraper to grace the futuristic sheikhdom. Instead, it’s one of mankind’s oldest power sources gaining its own space on the oil-rich Arabian Peninsula — a coal-fired power plant.

The construction of the $3.4 billion Hassyan plant in Dubai appears puzzling, as the United Arab Emirates hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency. It’s also building the peninsula’s first nuclear power plant and endlessly promotes its vast solar-power plant named after Dubai’s ruler. Dubai has also set the lofty goal of having the world’s lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050 — something that would be impacted by burning coal.

The coal plant’s arrival comes as Gulf Arab nations remain among the world’s hungriest for energy and amid political concerns over the use of natural gas imported from abroad, concerns underscored by a years-long dispute with gas-producer Qatar, which is boycotted by four Arab nations, including the UAE.

“Dubai was really saying we’re far too exposed on gas imports, those could be interrupted by all kinds of things, the cost is very high and so we have to do something else to diversify our fuel supply and bring down the total cost,” said Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy, a Dubai consulting company. “They got a very competitive offer on the coal plant … and so the decision was made.”

Dubai, a one-time pearling port, first had an electrical power company in 1961, some 10 years before it would join others to form the United Arab Emirates. In the time since, Dubai has experienced rapid growth, fueled in part by allowing foreigners to purchase private property. Skyscrapers sprung up, soaring into a sky soon filled by aircraft of the state-owned long-haul carrier Emirates. Massive malls enticed tourists, including one with its own ski slope.

All these wonders — plus plants to desalinate the water needed to green its desert dunes and air condition its interiors — fuel Dubai’s voracious appetite for electricity.

The demand is the same across across the Gulf Cooperation Council states, which include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Electricity demand across the GCC countries is “considered to be among the highest in the world,” according to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.

Jon Gambrell is an Associated Press writer.