The UAE has expanded from its first demonstration wind turbine on Sir Bani Yas Island to the 103.5 MW UAE Wind Program, the country's first utility-scale wind power project, spanning four sites across Abu Dhabi and Fujairah. The region's first wind turbine was installed on Sir Bani Yas Island, with a production capacity of 850 kilowatts per hour. Building on this, the UAE has since developed its first utility-scale wind power project, the UAE Wind Program.

First wind turbine — Sir Bani Yas Island

The region's first wind turbine was installed on Sir Bani Yas Island. The turbine, which stands 65 metres high and has three rotor blades each with a 52-metre wingspan, has a production capacity of 850 kilowatts per hour. Masdar and Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) developed an onshore wind farm on the island with a capacity of up to 30 MW.

UAE Wind Program

Developed by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and inaugurated in October 2023, the UAE Wind Program marks the introduction of utility-scale wind power to the UAE's energy mix. It leverages advances in technology, materials science and aerodynamics to capture the UAE's typically low wind speeds, including a newly identified pattern of stronger nighttime winds.

The programme spans four sites:

• Sir Bani Yas Island, Abu Dhabi — 45 MW (plus a 14 MWp solar farm)
• Delma Island, Abu Dhabi — 27 MW
• Al Sila, Abu Dhabi — 27 MW
• Al Halah, Fujairah — 4.5 MW

Combined capacity: 103.5 MW.

Quick facts

• Powers more than 23,000 homes a year.
• Offsets approximately 120,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually — equivalent to removing more than 26,000 cars from the road each year.
• Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) purchases the power generated from the Sir Bani Yas Island, Al Sila and Delma Island sites under a long-term power purchase agreement.

Source: Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.