Solar’s time has (nearly) come in the Middle East.
According to GTM Research’s new Global Solar Market Attractiveness Index, the region is home to some of the most attractive markets for new-build solar in the world. A steady stream of internationally competitive tenders have driven prices to record lows and caught the attention of the world.
GTM Research expects that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates will collectively install more than 22.4 gigawatts of cumulative capacity by 2023, all exceeding their renewable energy targets. But to date, most of the region has not seen the maturation of solar markets behind the meter.
For decades, national governments in the Middle East have heavily subsidized domestic fuel and electricity prices. The stated purpose is the promoting economic growth and providing a social safety net through the surplus distribution of nationalized oil production. Domestic energy subsidies have long been observed to distort markets.
Because behind-the-meter solar is competing against artificially low residential and commercial tariffs, these tariff structures therefore offer a disincentive to developing behind-the-meter distributed solar.
The recent fall in oil prices has caused several regional oil-producing governments to rethink their public subsidy programs and move toward rewriting their social contracts, cracking open the door for residential and commercial solar developers.
These findings suggest that without below-market installation costs, accelerated phase-out of retail subsidies, or a comparable incentive program to level the playing field, it is unlikely that distributed generation solar will command a significant share of demand in markets
Unlike nearly all its neighbors, Jordan has fostered a thriving local solar industry, primarily due to its removal of fuel subsidies and institutional support to encourage growth in the renewable energy sector across all segments of the market,”
Based on an article in gym by Mike Munsell
Latest News from Dubai
Dubai International’s Terminal 2 just got smarter and eco-friendlier with the installation of 15,000 solar panels on its premises that will reduce its carbon emissions and save them Dh3.3 million annually in electric bills.
The solar project has a capacity of 5 megawatts that will generate 7,483,500 kWh energy annually for Dubai Airports. The project will reduce existing Terminal 2 load by approximately 29 per cent. It will also slash annual carbon dioxide emissions by 3,243 metric tonnes, equivalent to 53,617 tree seedlings grown for 10 years or 688 passenger vehicles driven for one year.
From an article in Gulf News
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