Qatar Encourages Transition to Low Carbon Energy

Minister of State for Energy Affairs H E Eng. Saad Sherida Al Kaabi opening the 7th General Conference of Arab Union of Electricity.

Doha: The 7th General Conference of the Arab Union of Electricity was inaugurated yesterday in the presence of ministerial delegations led by a number of Their Excellencies the Arab Ministers of Electricity and Energy, under the patronage of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani.

Al Kaabi said in his opening speech that the conference is a valuable opportunity to shed light on the opportunities and challenges that this vital sector faces, as well as the ways and prospects for its development and advancement to the highest levels possible, ensuring a prosperous future for all Arab peoples. He expressed the hope that the Arab Union of Electricity's interest and follow-up would provide an opportunity to form a more profound and accurate vision, with the goal of developing a unified Arab strategy based on best practices in the fields of energy and renewable energy at the Arab and global levels.

The Minister stressed that Qatar, as one of the most important energy centres in the world, will work in cooperation with all brotherly countries to raise levels of interest in issues related to electricity, and activate joint coordination and constructive cooperation through electrical interconnection agreements and projects and strategic energy to support Arab electricity networks, as well as encouraging investment in the electricity sector to keep pace with the global transition to low-carbon energy and the use of renewable energy and cleaner energies, including natural gas.

H E Eng. Saad Sherida Al Kaabi pointed out that the work of the 7th General Conference of the Arab Union of Electricity (AUE) includes extensive sessions in which the future of renewable energies will be discussed and the possibilities of integrating them into Arab energy systems to convert them into integrated systems, which is in line with the direction of AUE towards striving to achieve environmental sustainability, and the development of the energy sectors in order to serve the economy and maintain environmental security by reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, which is considered one of the most important issues at the present time, will be addressed.

The Minister said that the conference will discuss the development of policies and strategies for the electricity sector in the Arab world, the prospects for the common Arab electricity market, and electrical interconnection projects that will play a major role in enhancing prospects for joint cooperation and reducing the cost of energy production, which will positively affect the selling prices of electrical energy to consumers.

At the opening session, the new AUE logo was launched, followed by the inauguration by the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, accompanied by a number of Arab ministers of energy and electricity, of the exhibition accompanying the conference and the exhibition of electrical equipment and supplies for the production, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Arab countries in its 10th edition combined with the main exhibition.