Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE top Cleantech list

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan are the most attractive markets for clean technologies, thanks to their government plans, budgets and long-term strategies, said a report by Ernst & Young.

These countries have also demonstrated investments in large initiatives such as KACARE, Masdar and the 'Green' Fifa World Cup 2022, said E&Y.

Although Jordan has limited financial resources, a new law was issued on renewable energy, which may help create new jobs by increasing local content requirements for investments in renewable energy, it added.

In the survey, 79% of regional respondents said they expected an increase in Cleantech investments in the region over the next five years.

They also expect considerable increases in Cleantech investments in the GCC, reflecting the impressions of investors after recent announcements in the GCC and ambitious plans of Saudi and the UAE.

A total of 94% of these respondents were more optimistic about Cleantech investments increasing in the GCC, compared with 73% in North Africa and 67% in the Levant.

Desertec project

The European Union and Mena governments and companies are planning to connect the region via an electrical energy grid capable of providing the Mena countries with considerable electricity and Europe with 15% of its electricity needs by 2050 (the Desertec project).

Electricity will be generated mostly through renewable energy. 54% of the respondents still believe that the Desertec project will be realized compared with 62% last year, and 36% believe that the project could be realized but on a smaller scale and at a reduced size.

The survey indentified four main drivers of Cleantech growth across the region: government policy, cost of the renewable energy, desire to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increased business efficiency.

Job creation was also cited as an important driver for growing Cleantech investment in the Levant as a result of population growth and elevated rates of unemployment.

According to Ernst & Young’s second quarterly Rapid-Growth Markets Forecast, over 15 million young people will enter the region’s workforce over the next decade. Cleantech may create employment opportunities for the relatively young and fast-growing labour force in Mena.

Almost one-third of the respondents favour solar energy as the number one potential source of renewable energy irrespective of their territories.

In a dramatic change from last year’s results, respondents selected energy efficiency as the second potential growth area across the region, with slight changes from one territory to another, followed by water and green buildings.

A majority of the respondents (75%) cited Photovoltaic (PV) as the main solar technology for the region followed by just 19% that named concentrating solar power (CSP). Respondents justified their selection mainly by the price per watt compared with the other technologies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image 01 - Arabian Peninsula. SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

Image 02 - Renewable energy. Top left: Kwerdenker/ Top right: Gretar Ívarsson/ Bottom left: Fernando Tomás/ Bottom right: OI-B-i.fernandez02C

Image 03 - DESERTEC EU-MENA Map. TREC