TRW & Co · Real Estate, Construction & Energy
Renewable Energy Projects in the UAE
Renewable energy projects in the UAE span utility-scale solar and storage, rooftop systems, waste-to-energy and green hydrogen. Success depends on lining up land, permits, offtake, construction and finance under emirate-level rules, the climate change law in force since May 2025 and the Civil Transactions Law in force since June 2026. This guide shows how.
Key pointUnder the new Civil Transactions Law a musataha must be concluded through a registered contract, and an unregistered disposition is void, so land registration has become a hard condition for financing renewable projects.
At a glance
National clean energy goals
The updated Energy Strategy 2050 targets over 28 GW of clean capacity, a 32 percent capacity share and 35 percent generation share by 2031.
Climate law in force
Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024, effective 30 May 2025, imposes emissions reporting on entities that emit greenhouse gases, with fines up to AED 2 million.
Carbon credit register
Cabinet Resolution No. 67 of 2024 created the national carbon register from 28 December 2024; the Capital Market Authority (formerly SCA) supervises trading platforms.
Emirate-level regulation
Each emirate regulates power: in Abu Dhabi the Department of Energy licenses generation, and EWEC buys capacity as single buyer.
Registered land rights
Since 1 June 2026, musataha rights must be concluded through a registered contract, making registration a precondition for bankable projects.
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What renewable energy projects in the UAE involve
Renewable energy projects in the UAE range from utility-scale solar parks and battery storage plants sold to state utilities, through rooftop and on-site solar for factories, malls and logistics parks, to waste-to-energy plants, green hydrogen pilots and carbon credit schemes. Each project is a bundle of contracts and permits: land, grid connection, generation licence, environmental approval, construction, operation, financing and an offtake arrangement that pays for it all.
The legal work follows the project lifecycle. Developers need land and permits before they can bid; contractors need a construction contract that matches the offtake obligations; lenders need security over every asset and contract; and investors buying operating plants need to know that all of it is in order. Mistakes at the development stage tend to surface years later as delay, claims or a failed refinancing.
The policy push is strong. The updated UAE Energy Strategy 2050 aims to triple the contribution of renewable energy by 2030, the climate change law has been in force since May 2025, and utilities continue to tender large solar and storage capacity. That creates opportunity, and also scrutiny of how projects are structured.
Policy, regulators and the legal framework
Energy is regulated at emirate level, with federal policy setting national targets. The table below summarises who matters for renewable energy projects in the UAE.
| Body | Role | Relevance to projects |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure | Federal energy policy and the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 | National targets, federal utility in the northern emirates |
| Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) | Lead authority under the climate change law | Emissions reporting, reduction measures, national carbon register |
| Department of Energy, Abu Dhabi | Sector regulator established by Law No. 11 of 2018 | Generation licences, clean energy regulation, distributed generation |
| EWEC | Single buyer for Abu Dhabi | Tenders for solar, storage and other capacity |
| DEWA and Dubai's sector regulator | Utility and regulation in Dubai | Solar park IPPs, Shams Dubai net metering, connection rules |
| Capital Market Authority (successor to the SCA) | Supervisor of carbon credit trading platforms | Licensing and supervision of platforms trading registered credits |
| Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology | National In-Country Value programme | ICV certificates used in tender evaluation |
The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 targets more than 28 GW of installed clean energy capacity by 2031, a 32 percent clean share of installed capacity and a 35 percent clean share of generation, with planned national investment of AED 150 to 200 billion. In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Energy licenses generation plants, including renewable plants, and has issued regulations aimed at generating a large share of electricity from clean sources by 2035.
The climate change law and carbon credits
Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024 on the Reduction of Climate Change Effects entered into force on 30 May 2025. It applies to public and private entities, including those in free zones, whose operations emit greenhouse gases. They must establish monitoring and reporting systems, keep records for at least five years and adopt reduction measures, with administrative fines from AED 50,000 to AED 2 million. Our article on the UAE climate change law covers the duties in detail.
Cabinet Resolution No. 67 of 2024 created the National Register for Carbon Credits, effective 28 December 2024, and requires entities emitting 0.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more a year to register with it. Credits issued by the register are treated as financial instruments when traded in the UAE, and the Capital Market Authority, which succeeded the Securities and Commodities Authority on 1 January 2026, licenses and supervises trading platforms. For renewable projects this opens a potential second revenue stream, provided the methodology, registration and ownership of credits are documented in the project contracts.
Contract and land law
The new Civil Transactions Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, took effect on 1 June 2026. For renewable energy projects in the UAE it matters in four places: the muqawala rules for construction contracts, mandatory hardship, the court's power to reduce exaggerated liquidated damages, and the requirement that musataha rights be concluded through a registered contract. Federal texts are on the UAE Legislation portal.
Choosing the project model
Renewable energy projects in the UAE follow a handful of models, each with different legal priorities.
Utility-scale IPP
A project company bids in a utility tender and signs a long-term agreement with the single buyer. Priorities are bid compliance, the power purchase agreement, land, grid connection and non-recourse finance.
Distributed and rooftop solar
Systems on commercial and industrial sites under net-metering or distributed generation rules, often owned by a third party under a lease or energy services agreement. Priorities are site rights, landlord consent, connection approvals and customer credit.
Storage and hybrid
Battery storage paired with solar or standalone, paid for availability and performance. Priorities are performance guarantees, degradation, augmentation and safety approvals.
Waste-to-energy
Plants that convert municipal or industrial waste into power, combining a waste supply agreement with a power sale. Priorities are feedstock volume and quality, gate fees and environmental permits.
Green hydrogen and new fuels
Pilot and early-stage projects linked to national hydrogen ambitions. Priorities are offtake certainty, water and power supply, export logistics and evolving standards.
Acquisitions of operating assets
Buying stakes in operating plants. Priorities are due diligence on the offtake contract, permits, land, warranties and change-of-control consents.
Development steps from site to operation
A typical sequence for renewable energy projects in the UAE, adapted from utility and private projects, looks like this.
- Site and land. Secure the site through a lease, usufruct or musataha and register it. For rooftop projects, obtain the owner's consent and check any jointly owned property rules.
- Grid and resource studies. Commission grid connection studies, resource assessments and geotechnical surveys. Connection capacity often decides project size.
- Permits and licences. Apply for the generation licence or distributed generation approval, environmental permits from the emirate authority, building permits and civil defence approvals.
- Offtake. Win the utility tender or sign the private energy services, lease or certificate agreement, aligned with the permits and connection terms.
- Construction contracting. Award the EPC contract with delay damages, performance guarantees and warranties that mirror offtake obligations. Agree module and inverter supply terms.
- Financing. Close debt and equity, with security over land, contracts, accounts and shares, and lender direct agreements with key counterparties.
- Commissioning and operation. Complete testing, achieve commercial operation and hand over to the O&M contractor under a performance-based contract.
Register the land right before you sign financing. Under the new Civil Transactions Law, a musataha must be concluded through a registered contract and an unregistered disposition is void. Lenders will not take security over a right that may not exist, and fixing registration late can delay financial close by months.
Bidding for utility tenders
Utility tenders remain the main route to scale for renewable energy projects in the UAE. They are competitive, document-heavy and run to tight timetables, so legal preparation needs to start before the request for proposals is issued.
Consortium formation comes first. Members should sign a bidding or consortium agreement covering exclusivity, cost sharing, decision-making, the split of equity and roles, and what happens if a member withdraws or the bid fails. Where the utility or a government entity will take equity in the project company, the shareholder terms are usually set by the tender and leave little room for change, so model their effect on control and distributions early.
Tender documents typically include a draft offtake agreement, land and connection terms, a bid bond requirement and rules restricting deviations. Bidders that submit heavy mark-ups risk being marked non-compliant. The better approach is to use the clarification rounds to raise genuine bankability issues, such as curtailment compensation, change in law or termination payments, and to price residual risks rather than assume they will be negotiated away after award.
Evaluation can include In-Country Value scoring under the national ICV programme, run by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology. Certificates must be current at the right date, and commitments made in the bid can become contractual obligations. Treat ICV as a compliance workstream with an owner, not a marketing figure.
Construction, supply and operations
The EPC contract is where most project value is lost or protected. Solar and storage EPC contracts in the UAE are often based on international forms, adapted for the offtake contract and UAE law. Key points include fixed price and date, liquidated damages for delay and performance shortfall, caps on liability, warranties for modules and inverters, and the interaction with decennial liability, which under UAE law applies to structures and cannot be excluded.
Supply chains are heavily international, with modules, inverters and batteries largely sourced from China. Supply contracts need clear specifications, factory testing, serial defect provisions and enforceable warranties from entities with assets. O&M contracts should tie fees to availability and performance, and give the owner clear rights to terminate and replace a failing operator. See our pages on construction contracts and construction disputes.
The best renewable energy projects in the UAE are boring to administer: every risk in the offtake contract has a matching owner in the construction, supply and operations contracts.
Documents and due diligence
Whether you are developing, lending or buying, the same documents decide the quality of renewable energy projects in the UAE.
- Land documents and registration certificates, and any landlord or master developer consents.
- Generation licence or distributed generation approval, and connection agreement.
- Environmental permits and any conditions, plus the environmental and social impact assessment.
- Offtake contract, tender documents and any amendments or waivers.
- EPC, supply, O&M and asset management contracts, with performance bonds and warranties.
- Financing and security documents, including direct agreements and hedging.
- Shareholder agreement, constitutional documents and ICV certificate where used in tenders.
- Insurance programme and claims history.
- Corporate tax registration and any free zone or exemption analysis under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022.
Risks and common mistakes
Starting construction on unregistered or unclear land
Rooftop projects in particular are often built on the strength of a landlord letter, without a registered right or consent from owners' associations in jointly owned buildings. If the building is sold, refurbished or the landlord defaults on its mortgage, the system may be stranded. Utility-scale projects face a different version of the problem when usufruct or musataha rights are granted late. Treat land as a condition precedent to construction, not a paperwork item to finish later.
Assuming private supply is permitted
Developers sometimes offer customers a power purchase arrangement that amounts to selling electricity across a site boundary or through the grid. In most emirates that requires a licence or must fit within a specific scheme such as net metering or distributed generation. A structure outside those rules may be unenforceable. Map the regulatory position first, then design the commercial model.
Weak warranties from overseas suppliers
Module and battery warranties are only as good as the supplier's ability and willingness to honour them. Check who gives the warranty, whether it survives insolvency of the distributor, how serial defects are handled and where claims can be enforced. Arbitration seated in a New York Convention state, parent guarantees and retention or bonds help. Avoid warranties that require shipment of failed equipment abroad before any replacement.
Ignoring carbon credit ownership
With the national carbon register now in place, the right to environmental attributes has value. If the offtake contract, lease or financing documents are silent, the owner, the customer and the landlord may each claim the credits or certificates. Allocate them expressly, including who registers projects and who bears the cost of verification.
Overlooking environmental and safety approvals for storage
Battery storage brings fire, safety and hazardous materials issues that solar alone does not. Civil defence approvals, emergency response plans and environmental permits can take longer than expected, and conditions attached to them may affect layout and cost. Insurers will also have requirements. Build these approvals into the development timetable and the EPC contract, with clear allocation of responsibility for obtaining them and for the cost of meeting any conditions imposed late.
Under-estimating change-of-control consents
Investors buying into operating plants often discover that the offtake contract, land agreement, licence and financing all require consent to a transfer, sometimes with different tests. Map consents early in an acquisition, because a missing approval can delay completion or give a counterparty leverage to renegotiate.
Cross-border angle
Renewable energy projects in the UAE draw on sponsors, contractors, suppliers and lenders from around the world, and UAE developers in turn are major investors abroad.
- China. Equipment supply and EPC services from Chinese companies dominate many projects. Contracts should address export controls, sanctions screening, warranty enforcement and dispute resolution outside mainland China where appropriate.
- Saudi Arabia and the GCC. Developers active across the region adapt templates between markets. Saudi and UAE rules on offtake, local content and land differ, so cross-market templates need checking.
- United Kingdom and Singapore. English-law financing and supply contracts, and London or Singapore arbitration, are common alongside UAE-law project documents.
- India and Bangladesh. Indian and Bangladeshi engineers, contractors and investors take part in Gulf renewables, and UAE investors are active in South Asian energy. TRW & Co's Dhaka and Chattogram teams coordinate on outbound and inbound investment questions.
Exits and refinancings are part of the same picture. Operating renewable assets with long-term contracts attract infrastructure funds and strategic buyers, including from Asia and Europe. Sellers should prepare a clean data room early: registered land, current permits, the full offtake history including any waivers, performance data and warranty claims. Buyers should test whether historic underperformance has been properly compensated and whether any consent or pre-emption right could block completion. A refinancing raises similar questions, because new lenders repeat the diligence and may require amendments that need counterparty approval.
UAE outbound investors financing projects abroad should consider investment treaty protection and the enforceability of awards in the host state as part of structuring.
How TRW & Co helps with renewable energy projects in the UAE
We advise developers, investors, contractors and corporate energy users across the project lifecycle. Where representation before UAE onshore courts or the DIFC/ADGM Courts is required, we work alongside locally licensed advocates and registered practitioners.
Development and permits
We map the land, licence, environmental and connection requirements for each site and emirate, and track them as conditions to construction and financing.
Commercial models
We structure utility bids, energy services agreements, rooftop leases and certificate purchases within each emirate's rules.
Construction and supply
We draft and negotiate EPC, supply and O&M contracts aligned with offtake obligations and the new Civil Transactions Law.
Finance and M&A
We support project financing and acquisitions of operating assets, including due diligence and consents.
See also our work on oil and gas and our article on how UAE renewable projects are structured. Browse all practices or contact our Dubai team to discuss a project.
Checklist for decision-makers
- Which emirate and regulator govern the site, and what licence or approval does the project need?
- Is the land right registered, mortgageable and long enough for the project and financing term?
- Does the offtake model fit the emirate's rules on supply and distributed generation?
- Are the EPC, supply and O&M contracts back to back with the offtake obligations?
- Who owns carbon credits and environmental attributes, and is that written down?
- Do emissions reporting duties under the climate change law affect us or our customers?
- Have we reviewed contracts against the Civil Transactions Law in force since 1 June 2026?
- What consents are needed for any future sale or refinancing?
Renewable energy projects in the UAE benefit from clear national targets and creditworthy utility buyers. The legal work is to make sure land, permits, contracts and finance line up so that the project can be built on time and financed, sold or refinanced without surprises.
Frequently asked questions
01Who regulates renewable energy projects in the UAE?
Regulation is mainly at emirate level. In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Energy licenses generation plants and EWEC procures capacity. In Dubai, DEWA and the emirate's sector regulator oversee generation, connection and the Shams Dubai programme. Federally, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure sets energy policy and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment leads on the climate change law. The Capital Market Authority, successor to the Securities and Commodities Authority, supervises carbon credit trading platforms. Environmental permits come from the relevant emirate authority.
02Can a business install rooftop solar in the UAE?
Yes, under each emirate's rules. In Dubai, Shams Dubai allows building owners to connect solar systems and offset consumption through net metering, subject to approvals. Abu Dhabi has distributed generation regulations. Systems are often owned by a third-party developer under a lease or energy services agreement. Check landlord and owners' association consents, connection approvals and whether the commercial model amounts to licensed supply.
03Does the climate change law apply to renewable projects?
It applies to any entity whose operations emit greenhouse gases, with additional carbon register duties for those emitting 0.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more a year. Most renewable plants fall far below that, but their customers may not, which drives demand for documented clean power. Projects may also register emission reductions in the national carbon register and earn credits, so the law can be an opportunity as well as an obligation.
04What land rights do solar projects need?
Utility-scale projects usually take a long lease, usufruct or musataha over government or private land, and lenders need it to be registered and capable of being mortgaged or assigned. Under the new Civil Transactions Law, musataha must be concluded through a registered contract. Rooftop projects need a lease or licence from the building owner and any required consents in jointly owned buildings. The land term should exceed the offtake and financing term.
05How are renewable energy projects in the UAE financed?
Utility-scale projects typically use non-recourse project finance from regional and international banks, sometimes with export credit agencies, secured on the project's contracts, land, accounts and shares. Long-term offtake with a creditworthy utility supports high leverage. Distributed solar portfolios are often financed through platform or portfolio facilities. Green bonds and sukuk are also used at corporate level. Lenders focus on offtake terms, land registration, EPC protections and permits.
06Who owns carbon credits from a renewable project?
Whoever the contracts say owns them, which is why they must be addressed expressly. Without a clear clause, the project owner, offtaker, landlord or lender may each claim environmental attributes. With the national carbon register in operation since December 2024, credits have tradable value, so allocate ownership, registration duties and verification costs in the offtake, lease and financing documents from the outset.
Sources and official materials
- UAE Energy Strategy 2050 — National targets for clean energy
- Department of Energy, Abu Dhabi — Generation licensing and clean energy regulation
- UAE Legislation portal — Climate change law, Civil Transactions Law and Cabinet resolutions
- Capital Market Authority (formerly SCA) — Carbon credit trading platform supervision
- National ICV Programme FAQs (MoIAT) — In-Country Value certificates
- Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure — Federal energy policy
General information only, current as at 27 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. UAE law differs between the onshore jurisdiction, the DIFC, ADGM and the free zones, and changes frequently; check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.
