MENA to save $750bn with new energy targets

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will save $750 billion if the current renewable energy targets are achieved, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Adnan Amin, the Secretary General of IRENA, said the vast majority of MENA nations currently have 2030 renewable energy targets of between 5 per cent and 15 per cent market-penetration.

Mr Amin was addressing the sixth MENA Renewable Energy Conference, and said the achievement of these goals would result in various savings to the energy sectors in the region.

Mr Amin said: “Solar is already competitive with natural gas, and the cost of PV (photovoltaic) power generation has dropped 80 per cent in the past 5 years. There can be further reduction in cost.”

Speaking at the same conference, Bassam Fattou, the director of Oxford Energy Institute Studies, said: “Several challenges hamper renewable energy production in MENA, such as state monopoly of the power system, a lack of institutional capacity and conventional energy subsidies.”