Reciprocal relationship

If the solar plant's impact may not be immediately obvious, a tour of Abu Dhabi illustrates how charging stations are a fixture of the cityscape and a reminder that the city has applied decarbonizing transformation strategies to its transportation system.

"With our partners, we look to ensure an entire zero-emissions fleet of taxicabs by 2040," said Abdulla Al Marzouqi, director-general of Abu Dhabi's Integrated Transport Centre, a subsidiary of the country's department of municipalities and transport.

He hailed Shenzhen, Guangdong province, as one of the few success stories in the green public transportation transformation, and said it will be a model for the UAE. He noted that Shenzhen Bus Group is the first and largest operator of pure electric transportation, with about 10,000 such vehicles. "They will provide us with support and guidance: from drafting electric transport policies to assessing electric transport operational efficiency," he said.

Now, new energy sector companies from the Chinese mainland are taking intellectual and technical assets, as well as technological standards, overseas. "From upstream — such as solar energy production and energy storage services — to downstream, where EV companies are coming to the Middle East," said Hallie Liao, general manager of KMB International, Shenzhen Bus Group's parent.