Abu Dhabi: While worldwide renewable energy investment was 12 per lower in 2012 compared with 2011, investment in the sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region grew by 40 per cent, senior industry officials said in the capital on Sunday.
Regional investment in fact topped $2.9 billion (Dh10.6 billion), and officials agreed that this indicated the transformation of the sector from a niche interest to a regional phenomenon.
They were speaking at a policy discussion held in the capital on Sunday about the findings of the MENA Renewables Status Report 2013, which was released earlier this month. The report was developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st century (REN21) and the Directorate of Energy and Climate Change at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as an outcome of the Abu Dhabi International Renewable Energy Conference held in January.
The report noted more than 100 renewable energy projects, including solar, wind and biomass, are under development in the region at present. These could increase non-hydro renewable energy generating capacity by 450 per cent in the next few years. In addition, announcements by various MENA governments indicate that additional capacity of 107 gigawatts (GW) could be established by 2030, representing a 60-fold growth to available capacity today.
“In terms of the market in the Gulf region, the UAE has been a leader in bringing the idea of renewable energy as a viable alternative for the future. It is through investments such as Masdar, the Masdar Institute and the Shams power plant [in Abu Dhabi] that the imagination has been sparked about what is possible,” Dr Adnan Z. Ameen, director general of Irena, told Gulf News on the sidelines of the talks.
“I’ve had discussions with some of the key Saudi Arabian individuals who are involved in the massive plans that [their country] is now putting in place. They told me very frankly that if it had not been for the UAE example in blazing the trail and taking the early risks and decisions, it wouldn’t have occurred to them [to do so] in the way that they are. And Saudi Arabia is now going to potentially be the biggest investor, in terms of volume, in renewable energy in the region,” Dr Ameen added.
The MENA region currently has 380.24 megawatts (MW) of installed solar photovoltaic capacity, 182 MW of concentrated solar power, 1.1 GW of wind power, 73.5 MW of power generated from biomass and waste, and 17.6 GW of hydropower.
Referring to the decline in worldwide investment, Dr Ameen said that it had come about due to a “pronounced downturn in the global economy, some confusion among traditional energy operators about their future plans, and rapid expansion, overcapacity and some resulting slowdown in development of renewables in developed economies”.
“The decline happened mainly in developed economy markets, and it is temporary,” he added.
The policy discussion was held ahead of the fifth Irena Council meeting, which is being attended by delegates from more than 90 countries. The meeting will focus on Irena’s role as a hub for renewable energy, initiatives to boost food security and assist refugees in developing countries, and plans to build on ground-breaking cost studies for renewable energy technologies, among others. The meeting concludes in the capital tomorrow (Tuesday).
