The ongoing World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi is bringing the global race for clean energy into sharp focus, with Chinese renewable energy companies positioning themselves at the center of this key transition.
The three-day summit opened in the United Arab Emirates' capital on Tuesday, gathering some 50,000 attendees from 114 countries and regions. The event is seen as a key global platform for discussing energy policies and new technologies.
Data shows that China is playing a leading role in the race for cleaner energy, spending nearly as much in this field as the U.S. and European Union combined, while leading manufacturing across most clean and advanced energy supply chains.
One of the key talking points at the Abu Dhabi summit is focused on the role that artificial intelligence could play in the next crucial phase of the energy transition, with one representative arguing AI is now at the very heart of the industry.
"These systems are getting bigger, and as they get bigger and markets start to mature, we're finding that margins for asset owners are starting to tighten. And in that scenario, in that context, what ends up happening is that how a system is designed, how a system is operated, and how a system is optimized becomes fundamentally important to how well an asset is in terms of value. And then AI is no longer an add on, it becomes the core generator of value in optimizing these three spaces, and that's why it's so important," said Kutub Uddin, chief technical officer of Envision, a Shanghai-based energy company.
Other insiders say the shift toward intelligent energy systems is increasingly shaping how countries are planning their transition. For the Middle East, the challenge is turning rapid solar expansion into stable and reliable power systems.
This can be seen at the landmark Al Dhafra Solar Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, built by the China Machinery Engineering Corporation. Covering more than 20 square kilometers, this facility is the world's largest single-site solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, with an installed capacity of 2.1 gigawatts. Operational since June 2023, it generates enough electricity to power 200,000 households annually while reducing carbon emissions by 2.4 million tons each year.
Yang Bao, president of global sales and marketing at Trinasolar, a photovoltaic solar energy company in east China's Jiangsu Province which was involved in the Al Dhafra project, highlighted the scope for future potential.
"Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra project, they not only produce renewable energy to the market, but with the help of Trinasolar's products, they can also provide some stable output of the renewable energies. For all of them together, Abu Dhabi and also the UAE are going to play a more and more important role for the renewable energies, and Trinasolar, with our multiple product lines, we're going to provide our own support to these visions in the future," said Yang.
Beyond solar, Chinese enterprises are also venturing into wind energy in the UAE, with the Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina), launching the UAE's first wind power demonstration project in 2023. It generates enough electricity annually to meet the needs of over 23,000 households while reducing carbon emissions by 120,000 tons.
Company leaders have stressed that enhancing cooperation with their Middle Eastern partners is essential to meeting regional climate goals.
"China-Arabic cooperation not only accelerates the energy transition of both sides, but also provides affordable, reliable, replicable and sustainable clean energy solutions for the whole world, especially in developing countries. Moving forward, there's a huge potential for deeper cooperation between industry partners in the new energy sectors," said Gao Fei, vice president of PowerChina Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Chinese companies offer green solutions at World Future Energy Summit
