The UAE has no single licence for data centres, so projects move through free zone, land and utility approvals in each emirate. The biggest rule in play is a US export rule from 10 July 2026 that lets G42 and Core42 receive advanced AI chips without a licence, but only until 6 April 2027 unless they become US companies. Power is cheaper in Abu Dhabi than Dubai, and Abu Dhabi is still designing a special tariff for data centres.
The US export control position for advanced AI chips in the United Arab Emirates, as of 14 July 2026, is recorded as “Country Group A:5 with Supplement No. 8 approved end users”.
Who decides · Approvals and licensing · Power · Incentives · Data rules · Water and cooling · On the clock · 14 projects in United Arab Emirates
Power is regulated emirate by emirate, so a site in Abu Dhabi deals with the Department of Energy, EWEC and TAQA and a site in Dubai deals with DEWA. US chip export licences are issued by the US Bureau of Industry and Security, and no UAE body administers them.
Regulates power and water in Abu Dhabi and licenses electricity generation. It issues self-supply generation licences for on-site plants above 5 MWp. In January 2026 it said it is designing a dedicated electricity tariff for data centres, and no rates had been published by October 2026.
Abu Dhabi's single buyer of power. It plans and contracts the generation that a large campus such as Stargate UAE needs, and it may add gas turbines such as Taweelah C. Corporate and virtual power purchase agreements are generally not allowed, so large sites rely on EWEC supply or their own plants.
Owns the Abu Dhabi transmission and distribution networks through its subsidiaries TRANSCO, ADDC and AADC. A site needs a connection agreement with these operators and pays the ADDC business tariff. TAQA's CEO said in 2025 that investment to power Abu Dhabi's data centre industry will exceed AED 37 billion.
The only power and water utility in Dubai. It connects sites and charges industrial users AED 0.380 per kWh above 10,000 kWh a month, plus a monthly fuel surcharge of AED 0.060 per kWh for October 2026. Its subsidiary Moro Hub also builds and runs solar-powered data centres.
Leads a national team, formed in February 2025, that reviews how data centres affect energy demand. The team will list and classify every data centre in the country and map their locations to plan infrastructure. Its main task is a federal policy to regulate data centre operations, which had not been published by October 2026.
Gives long-term leases over government land through its Musataha programme. Khazna used it in May 2024 for a 30 MW data centre in Mafraq. ADIO said it had signed 132 such agreements since October 2021.
Runs the Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Airport Freezone and Dubai CommerCity free zones and licenses firms in them. In May 2026 it formed a joint venture with Volt UAE for a data centre campus in Dubai Silicon Oasis. DIEZ provides the land and base infrastructure, and Volt builds, finances and operates the site.
Licenses the telecom carriers that connect data centres. On 9 August 2026 it renewed the e& and du licences to 2046 and added duties on network resilience, backup capacity and international connectivity. It also sits on the federal data centre energy team.
A federal body created on 14 June 2026 that reports to the Cabinet. It merged the UAE Data Office, the digital government arm of TDRA and the AI office. It sets national data standards and proposes data laws, including the delayed rules under the personal data law.
Issued the National Cloud Security Policy in February 2023 and certifies clouds that host government workloads. In May 2026 du's National Hypercloud became the first sovereign cloud certified under it, for all government workloads except Secret and Top Secret.
Also involved, with no data center rule found yet.
On 10 July 2026 the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) moved the UAE into Country Group A, subgroup 5. This makes UAE buyers eligible for a licence exception called Strategic Trade Authorization. The UAE was also removed from two groups of countries of concern for chemical, biological and missile items.
The same rule created a list of approved end users in Supplement No. 8 to Part 740 of US export rules. It names UAE government bodies, G42 and Core42, and eight US companies including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle and OpenAI. Listed parties can receive advanced computing items without a separate export licence.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) runs the Musataha programme, which gives companies long-term leases over government-owned land. Khazna used it in 2024 for a 30 MW data centre in Mafraq. ADIO said it had signed 132 such agreements since October 2021.
The Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) runs free zones including Dubai Silicon Oasis. In May 2026 it formed a joint venture with Volt UAE for a data centre campus there. DIEZ provides land and base infrastructure and Volt builds, finances and operates the site.
The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) renewed the licences of e& and du from 9 August 2026 to 8 August 2046. The new licences add duties on network resilience, backup capacity and international connectivity. These two carriers supply most connectivity to UAE data centres.
DEWA charges industrial users AED 0.230 per kWh for the first 10,000 kWh each month and AED 0.380 above that. A large data centre pays almost all its power at the upper rate. The slabs come from a 2011 Dubai Executive Council resolution.
DEWA adds a fuel surcharge that it resets each month. For October 2026 it is AED 0.060 per kWh. With 5% VAT the upper band costs about AED 0.462, or about US$0.126 per kWh.
In Abu Dhabi, industrial users above 1 MW pay 27 fils per kWh off-peak, about US$0.074. The peak rate is 36.6 fils from 10am to 10pm between 1 June and 30 September. Users of 1 MW or less pay a flat 28.6 fils.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy said in January 2026 that it is designing a dedicated electricity tariff for data centres. It wants prices that compete globally while covering the real cost of supply. Operators may be able to choose their energy mix, including renewables. No rates had been published by 3 October 2026.
The national team that reviews how data centres affect the energy sector met for the first time on 3 February 2025 at MoEI in Dubai. It will measure data centre power demand, list and classify every data centre and map current and planned sites. It must also draft a federal policy to regulate data centre operations. No policy had been published by October 2026.
EWEC and Masdar are developing a 5.2 GW solar plant with 19 GWh of battery storage in Abu Dhabi to supply 1 GW of steady power for 24 hours. The project reached financial close on 13 July 2026 and should operate in 2027. Masdar named AI and data centres as drivers of demand. No offtake contract with a data centre has been announced.
TAQA's CEO said on 29 May 2025 that investment to power Abu Dhabi's data centre industry will exceed AED 37 billion, about US$10 billion. TAQA is building a 1 GW gas turbine station and plans to spend AED 75 billion by 2030 to grow its generation capacity to 150 GW.
Federal corporate tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. It applies to financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023.
A company in a free zone that meets the conditions of a Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% corporate tax on its qualifying income. Other income is taxed at 9%.
In April 2026 DIEZ froze rents on renewal and waived or deferred several licence fees in Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Airport Freezone and Dubai CommerCity. It linked the relief to the regional situation. None of the measures targets data centres alone.
Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, the Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), took effect on 2 January 2022. It requires consent for most processing and limits transfers of personal data abroad. It does not apply inside the DIFC and ADGM financial free zones, which have their own laws.
The executive regulations that set out penalties and transfer details for the PDPL had not been issued as of March 2026. Firms get six months to comply once they are published.
On 14 June 2026 the UAE created the Artificial Intelligence and Data Authority. It merges the UAE Data Office, the digital government arm of TDRA and the AI office, and reports to the Cabinet. It sets national data standards and proposes data laws.
Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 bars storing or processing health information outside the UAE. A health authority decision can allow exceptions.
The UAE Cyber Security Council issued a National Cloud Security Policy on 6 February 2023. In May 2026 du's National Hypercloud became the first sovereign cloud certified under it. The certificate covers all government workloads except those classed Secret and Top Secret.
The DIFC applies its own Data Protection Law No. 5 of 2020. July 2025 amendments let people sue directly in DIFC courts. ADGM added rules in September 2025 on processing sensitive data without consent in some cases.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy policy on water in district cooling plants lets operators use recycled water, desalinated water or seawater. The choice depends on cost and feasibility. District cooling used about 5% of the emirate's desalinated water when the policy launched.
Industrial users in Abu Dhabi pay AED 7.84 per cubic metre for water. Recycled water costs AED 1.70 per cubic metre.
The approval for G42 and Core42 to receive US chips without a licence expires on 6 April 2027 unless BIS says otherwise. If they have not become US companies by then, they must apply for authorisation.
Bloomberg reported on 4 September 2026 that G42 is exploring majority US ownership to keep its access to US AI chips. No deal had been announced by 3 October 2026.
Reuters reported on 11 September 2026 that the UAE is revising the 5 GW Stargate UAE campus after Iranian strikes. Sources said it may become a network of hardened sites, some underground. The strikes hit AWS data centres in the UAE in March 2026.
Rates for the planned Abu Dhabi data centre tariff are still unpublished. Their level will set the cost gap with Dubai's roughly US$0.126 per kWh.
The new AI and Data Authority took over the UAE Data Office in June 2026. Its creation could move the long-delayed PDPL executive regulations forward. No date has been set.
What this research looked for and could not confirm from a primary or credible source. Listed so the gaps are visible.
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