Abstract Future power generation scenarios for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that emphasize solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) with thermal energy storage are analyzed at PV:CSP generation ratios of 1:1 to 4:1, and up to 50% renewable share. Such scenarios enable up to 24–38% reduction in primary fuel consumption at 30–50% renewable share, respectively, relative to the base case scenario (i.e., business-as-usual), with accompanying reductions in carbon dioxide emissions of up to 34–54%, respectively. In parallel, over the same range of renewable shares, excess electricity is generated in the range of 1–13 TWh (0.4–5% of annual demand) and 3–25 TWh (1–10%) annually, at PV:CSP ratios of 1:1 and 4:1, respectively. Monthly excess electricity maxima and minima occur in winter and summer, respectively. At 40% renewable electricity share, the PV:CSP 4:1 scenario would lead to annual power generation costs, inclusive of power-to-gas (PtG), approximately 11% higher than for the base case scenario, and 13% lower than for the PV:CSP 1:1 scenario. At an electricity tariff of 0.05 USD/kWh and 50% capacity utilization, the levelized costs of hydrogen and synthetic natural gas (SNG) are estimated at 101 USD/MWh th and 127 USD/MWh th , respectively.