Veteran batsman Steve Smith dropped from the team
A key driver behind the push for energy diversification in the Mena region is the sharp growth in demand for gas. With increased efficiency and lower emissions than other fossil fuels, gas has become the favoured fuel for power generation across the region over the past two decades.
However, with the exception of Qatar, all of the GCC states are facing a tight gas market, with competing demands from oil, industrial and utility sectors. Outside the GCC, Jordan has been hit by a rising energy import bill in recent years as it has been forced to increase the use of oil due to the decline of natural gas supplies from Egypt. In North Africa, Egypt has also turned to LNG imports and Morocco is planning an ambitious $4.6 billion gas-to-power project to boost gas supplies and generation capacity.
While new alternatives such as nuclear and coal are being explored and a handful of projects being implemented across the region, renewable energy is quickly emerging as the preferred alternative to conventional oil and gas fired plants. The key driver behind the push for renewable energy is economics, with renewable energy not only achieving parity with traditional thermal fossil fuel generation in the Middle East, but in 2016 actually falling below those achieved for conventional fossil fuel-fired plants.
Falling cost
The fall in oil price has resulted in an increased drive for private sector participation in the region's utilities markets. The move towards the independent power producer (IPP) and independent water and power producer (IWPP) model has enabled some of the largest international developers to bid competitively and submit some of the lowest prices in the world for renewable energy projects.
Although competitively tendered IPP projects will continue to drive the region's largest renewable projects, some of the region's less wealthy governments have been implementing alternative frameworks and policies to kickstart renewable energy programmes on a smaller scale. The implementation of a well-structured feed-in-tariff (FiT) programme) in Jordan has allowed Amman to develop significant renewable energy capacity with cost effective tariffs. - business@khaleejtimes.com
Veteran batsman Steve Smith dropped from the team
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