Under the leadership of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the U.S. National Energy Council during the ADIPEC Exhibition and Conference 2025, witnessed by Dr. Joe Dugan.
This strategic partnership aims to embed artificial intelligence (AI) across energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure, marking a defining moment in how the two nations collaborate to engineer a sustainable, intelligent future.
The Global Energy Context
Energy underpins 8% of global GDP (≈US$7.6 trillion) but remains the largest driver of CO₂ emissions. As demand continues to rise toward 2040, only digitalisation and efficiency can sustain balance.
The AI-in-energy market, projected to exceed US$50 billion by 2030, is growing over 30% annually — and could cut 2.4 gigatonnes of CO₂ by 2030, equivalent to removing 500 million cars from roads.
Why the UAE Is Moving Fast
• Economic Diversification: With non-oil GDP already 75% and targeting 85% by 2031, AI could contribute 14% of national GDP.
• Energy Sovereignty: Domestic energy demand is set to grow 30% by 2030, pushing for AI-led generation and storage systems.
• Industrial Transformation: Through Operation 300Bn, the UAE aims for AED 300 billion industrial GDP, boosted by 35–40% AI-driven productivity gains.
• Climate Leadership: Over AED 600 billion (US$163B) is earmarked for clean energy, with AI serving as the accelerator toward Net Zero 2050.
How AI Reinvents the Energy Chain
AI is not an add-on — it’s the new backbone of energy systems:
• Oil & Gas: −30% OPEX, +15% yield
• Power Systems: +20% efficiency
• Grids: −25% losses, +30% reliability
• Manufacturing: +40% output, −20% cost
• Renewables: +18% utilisation
• Carbon Capture: −12% cost
Nationally, this translates to a +22% rise in energy productivity, AED 90 billion (US$24.5B) in new output, and 70 million tons less CO₂ annually.
The UAE’s Strategic Edge
The UAE ranks #1 in MENA and #19 globally in AI readiness.
• ADNOC Group has unlocked over US$1 billion in digital value.
• Masdar targets 100 GW renewable capacity by 2030, with 51 GW already achieved.
• The UAE–U.S. Energy–AI Corridor now bridges East, West, and the Global South, positioning the Emirates as the nerve center of intelligent energy transformation.
Vision Alignment: One Strategy, Many Frontiers
The partnership synchronizes across national visions:
• UAE Vision 2031: Double GDP to AED 3 trillion (US$816B)
• Net Zero 2050: AED 600B clean energy investments
• Operation 300Bn: AED 300B industrial output by 2031
• Digital Economy 2032: 20% of GDP from digital sectors
• AI Strategy 2031: Enter the world’s top-10 AI nations
All pillars converge — energy becomes data, manufacturing becomes intelligent, and industry becomes sovereign.
Strategic and Economic Impact
The collaboration builds a Sovereign Energy Intelligence Network, integrating refineries, grids, and renewables into one responsive ecosystem.
Expected outcomes include:
• +40% industrial output
• −20% cost base
• +4.5% annual non-oil GDP growth
• −25% carbon intensity by 2030
This positions the UAE as the Energy–AI hub linking the U.S., Asia, and the Global South — a bridge between economies and innovation systems.
The Economic Dividend
Globally, AI could inject US$15.7 trillion into GDP by 2030 — with energy and manufacturing comprising 40% of that growth.
If the UAE captures even 0.5%, it gains US$75 billion in new GDP.
The U.S. partnership unlocks access to frontier compute, joint R&D, and sovereign AI infrastructure, amplifying both national resilience and economic competitiveness.
Redefining Power for the Future
The UAE is not merely digitizing energy — it is redefining power itself.
By fusing energy, intelligence, and industry, the nation is building the world’s first Sovereign Energy–AI Economy — an ecosystem that creates, predicts, and protects its own growth.
From an energy exporter to an intelligence superpower, the UAE demonstrates that the future will not belong to those who own the oil, but to those who own the intelligence that powers the world.