Mr. Khaled Ahmed Sharbatly, the Group Chief Investment Officer and Partner, emphasized that renewable energy projects are at the forefront of the GCC countries and Egypt’s agenda as an integral part of future sustainable development plans in the region, which is witnessing rapid growth in solar energy. Solar energy applications recorded a large part of this growing interest in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Emirates, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, adding that Saudi Arabia is qualified to lead the region in the field of solar energy electricity storage solutions. Mr. Sharbatly expected that the region will witness solar energy production of “50 gigawatt per hour of Electricity Storage Solutions by 2030”, where Saudi Arabia alone will acquire 20 gigawatt per hours, and Egypt and the UAE will have an equal production volume of 10 gigawatt per hour each, and Qatar, Kuwait and Oman will produce 10 gigawatt per hour collectively.
This statement came during Mr. Sharbatly’s participation in the session titled “Renewable Energy: Project Assessments and Best Case Studies in MENA” as part of the International Conference on the Solar Energy Industry in the Middle East Intersolar Middle East 2022, which was held on the sidelines of the activities and works of the 47th edition of the Middle East Energy Exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Center held form the 7th to the 9th of March under the patronage of Sheikh Maktoum Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. The conference focused on the Industry’s best practices across key energy sector pillars including digitization, smart grids, renewable energy, green hydrogen, electrical energy storage, photovoltaics and solar thermal technologies. Sharbatly presented a working paper on future prospects for clean energy markets in the GCC and choosing systems, Storage solutions and technologies for photovoltaic power plants.
Sharbatly indicated that the GCC will witness successive developments as one of the fastest rising regions in the world in terms of clean energy, pointing to the growth of electrical energy storage projects in the region driven by the ambitious goals of the renewable energy sector and the increase in demand for electricity at peak times. Stressing that the goals set by the countries of the Middle East and North Africa for renewable energy promote the spread of energy storage solutions, and batteries are expected to account for 45% of the total capacity of electrical energy storage regionally by 2025. This contributes to enhancing the stability of the electric capacity of generation plants and the flexibility of networks, dealing with interruptions of variable renewable energy and interruptions that may occur in the electricity supply and other services.
It is worth noting that Demand for solar energy is surging in the Middle East, Africa and Asian nations with abundant sunshine. In the Middle East alone, total installed capacity for solar power generation more than quadrupled from 2016 to 2020, according to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi. Efforts to bring sustainable electricity supplies to rural areas through the use of off-grid and battery storage systems are helping to spur this growth, as more countries shift away from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming, the Desert Technologies Factory Company will be at the forefront This transformation is ready to support the future of clean energy and electricity storage solutions, in the Kingdom and throughout the MENA region.
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