ENERGY
RENEWABLE
ENERGY
MARKETS
& THE GCC
REGION
ADNAN Z. AMIN
Director-General
IRENA
IRENA (2016), ‘Renewable Energy Market Analysis:
The GCC Region’. IRENA, Abu Dhabi.
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The transition towards renewable
energy is creating a fundamental,
long-term shift in the global economy.
This shift can be expected to have
a significant impact on fossil-fuel
producers, including the oil – and
gas-exporting countries of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC).
The landmark December 2015 Paris
Agreement, backed up with detailed
plans by countries around the world to
overhaul their energy sectors, could
imply the eventual softening of global
demand for oil and gas, the main drivers
of local economies. But it also presents
an exciting opportunity for economic
diversification and entry to new markets.
For the last several years already,
GCC countries have been fashioning a
critical role for themselves in the global
shift to renewable energy. They have
done so as investors in major solar and
wind projects worldwide and also by
adopting innovative and increasingly
cost-competitive technologies in their
own domestic markets.
With the advent of lowest solar
prices in the world, Gulf countries
are set to capitalise on their promising
solar resources for power generation
and water desalination. As the present
market analysis finds, the GCC region can
cut its annual water use by 16 per cent,
save 400 million barrels of oil, create
close to 210,000 jobs and reduce its per
capita carbon footprint by 8% in 2030 –
all by achieving the renewable energy
targets that national and sub-national
governments have already put in place.
These current targets are entirely
within reach. A solar photovoltaic
tender in Dubai last year resulted
in the record-low electricity price of
USD 0.06 per kilowatt hour – cheaper
than domestically produced power
from gas-fired generation. Indeed, for
countries that use a substantial share
of their hydrocarbon production for
power generation, solar power has
emerged as one of the quickest, least-
risk investments to meet rapid demand
growth for electricity and even boost
export capacity and revenues.
The economic and social rationale for
the energy transition in the GCC has
never been stronger. By maintaining
their leadership in the energy sector
and embracing their region’s abundance
of renewable energy resources, GCC
countries can ensure their own long-term
economic and social prosperity through
a clean energy future. ■