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Abu Dhabi plans estimated 10GW data centre capacity

4 February 2025

 

Abu Dhabi is planning to invest in data centres with a total combined IT load capacity equivalent to an estimated 10,000MW.

According to industry sources, the locations that are being considered are in Abu Dhabi's Dhafra region, previously known as the Western or Al-Gharbia region, including one close to the Barakah nuclear power plant.

In addition to the nuclear power plant, which has a total nameplate capacity of 5,600MW, Abu Dhabi's second utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power project is located in Al-Dhafra.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) is also procuring an open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) plant to be located in the region. The Al-Dhafra OCGT plant is being tendered on a fast-track basis and is expected to have an installed capacity of 1,000MW-1,100MW.

State utility offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) have yet to disclose the locations for the gigawatt-scale solar PV and battery energy storage system (bess) plants that they are planning to develop as part of the UAE's national net-zero target and artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

The project comprises 5,200MW solar PV and 19 gigawatt-hour (GWh) bess plants that are expected to supply 1,000MW of round-the-clock renewable power.     

Experts have advised colocating data hyperscale centres, particularly those designed for training AI large-language models that have an electrical output similar to small towns or cities, with power generation sources.

This helps bypass complex and time-consuming grid connection upgrades and approvals processes and minimises energy waste.

Data centres designed for inferencing AI models, however, need to be built close to load centres or cities for improved latency.  

"Lots of data centre project activity in Abu Dhabi at the moment," said a senior technical consultant, who also cautions there might be duplications in terms of these "concept projects".

Karen Young, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy, also observes the uptick in project activity, as well as in policies directly related to AI and data centres in the UAE.

"It's a lot to keep track of, and the new doubt that we may be able to do supercomputing with less power and investment, and cheaper inputs, makes the race for energy infrastructure and data centre placement slightly more risky," she tells MEED.

Related read: DeepSeek complicates regional data centre choices

"All the same, the UAE has made a strategic decision to lead the space and it changes the global landscape of where this advances and which countries have advantages to control it."

GCC data centre market

Over $10.6bn-worth of data centres, some catering to hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, are planned to be developed and built in the GCC states, according to the latest available data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

This is a conservative estimate, given potential investments such as the $5bn planned between US asset investment firm KKR and the UAE-based Gulf Data Hub.

It also excludes spending by government entities to develop AI capabilities in defence, security, healthcare and energy.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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