Search results

Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) said it had received four bids to develop the 1,500MW Al-Ajban solar PV plant as an independent power project (IPP). It is Ewec’s third major PV project in Abu Dhabi and will bring the state-owned Abu Dhabi Power Corporation subsidiary's total solar capacity to around 4GW.

There are many reasons for environmentalists to be suspicions about the UAE's stewardship of the upcoming UN Climate Conference COP28, but it could prove a historic mistake for the mostly western critics to underestimate the summit's president-designate Sultan Al-Jaber. While detractors fear the event is morphing into a vehicle for hydrocarbons industry lobbying, the UAE claims it is serious about renewable energy and is recruiting a potentially powerful southern alliance to its side.

The former chief executive of Syria-focused Gulfsands Petroleum is targeting upstream oil and gas assets in Oman, as well as solar power opportunities. A return to Syria remains off the table for now, but Sajjad told GSN that "if the door opens again, we’ll be knocking".

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) is to invest £25m ($31m) in Xlinks, which is developing an ambitious project to lay the world's longest high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cable, from Morocco to the UK.

A joint venture of Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) and China’s Jinko Power Technology has won a contract to build, own and operate the 500MW Manah Solar II independent power project (IPP) in Manah, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).

Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Development Oman (EDO), signed six term-sheet agreements with developers to invest in green hydrogen projects worth more than OR20bn ($52bn) and involving some 15GW of renewable energy capacity.

Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) issued a request for proposals (RFP) in January for a 1.5GW solar photovoltaic independent power project in the Ajban area of Abu Dhabi. It is the third major solar plant by Ewec, following the 1.2GW Noor Abu Dhabi and the 1.58GW Al-Dhafra projects.

The UAE government said on 12 January that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) chief executive Sultan Al-Jaber has been appointed president of the 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which is scheduled to be held in Dubai on 30 November-12 December.

Iran has revived plans to build a nuclear power plant in Khuzestan province. The development comes amid other efforts by Tehran to further develop its electricity sector. Iran had completed an initial synchronisation exercise that was a necessary precursor to linking the electricity grid to Russia, through Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Saudi Arabia is laying claim to developing the world’s largest single-site solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, under a new joint venture between the local Acwa Power and the Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), a subsidiary of the government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). PIF also has a major stake in Acwa.

The United Nations climate summit COP27, held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from 6-18 November, offered a venue for Gulf countries to restate their carbon cutting targets, while also providing an opportunity for wider diplomacy. The fact these countries are the ultimate source of much of the world’s carbon emissions was something that only rarely intruded on proceedings.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Jeddah on 24 September, where he was received at the airport by Mecca region governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and finance minister Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan. He held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at Al-Salam Palace before flying out later that day to the UAE, where the most important elements of his weekend tour were finalised.

GSN Risk Grade: D↓5 GCC ambassadors: The direction of political travel will undoubtedly be set by efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, but there has been some easing of regional tensions as Kuwait and the UAE sent ambassadors to Tehran for the first time since relations soured with the GCC countries in 2016.

Tehran and Washington have both responded to a final draft for a new deal on Iran’s nuclear programme that was circulated by European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Josep Borrell in late July.

Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Brothers (Abilitii) has signed an agreement with Israel-lined SolarEdge to explore renewable energy investments. The rare (possibly so far unique) public Saudi-Israeli deal was finalised on the sidelines of United States President Joe Biden’s mid-July visit to the kingdom by a company whose star has risen on Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s watch.