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A deal signed between the government and Japan’s Softbank Group to develop 200GW of solar power over the next 12 years has given fresh hope that the kingdom’s green energy industry may finally get off the ground, after previous false starts. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) signed a memorandum of understanding on 27 March with Softbank Group chairman and chief executive Masayoshi Son to set up what will be the world’s largest solar energy investment programme.

Nuclear power generation around the Gulf and nearby countries is expected to increase fourfold over the coming decade, from 3.6GW now to 14.1GW by 2028, according to the latest US Energy Information Administration (EIA) projections. Leading the way is the UAE, which is due to install 5.4GW of capacity by 2020. Saudi Arabia is following with its nuclear generation plans. But political controversies are rarely far away when it comes to nuclear energy, as Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are discovering.

The quickly shifting landscape of the global electricity supply industry – marked by sharp falls in the cost of renewable energy (RE) – is likely to lead to wholesale changes in the way Gulf economies invest in power generation. Some planners are questioning the rationale in pursuing any further nuclear plants and say the case for coal-fired plants is doubtful, even though governments are still constrained by the need to ensure they can deliver reliable energy during a period (widely perceived as ‘transitional’) when battery storage (a vital adjunct to solar power) remains a nascent technology.

There was a certain inevitability to the 6 February announcement that Acwa Power had been selected to build Saudi Arabia’s first utility-scale solar PV plant, to supply 300MW at Al-Jouf. Successful in major solar PV schemes from Dubai to Morocco, Acwa Power offered another record-breaking tariff ($0.023417/kWh) to secure a 25-year power purchase agreement for the Skaka independent power project (IPP) at Al-Jouf.

The sight of an official Israeli delegation at a high-profile event in the Gulf is still one of the more unusual elements of an International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) conference. Israel voted for Abu Dhabi as the home of the intergovernmental body in 2009, in large part so it would have an excuse to establish a permanent diplomatic base in the region.The Israeli office is led by Rami Hatan, formerly a director of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ world religions department.

The cost of generating electricity using solar photovoltaic (PV) panels fell by 73% from 2010 to 2017 according to new analysis published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) in time for its annual summit, held in Abu Dhabi on 13-14 January. Global weighted average costs for solar PV were just $0.10/kWh in 2017 and are set to fall by a further 50% by 2020, according to the inter-governmental agency. These were among the more striking numbers set out by Irena and underline the powerful incentive now acting on Gulf governments to redouble their efforts to develop their sustainable energy sectors.

The record-breaking low tariff agreed in September between Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and the ACWA Power-Shanghai Electric consortium to build the fourth phase of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park will not only deliver the commercial emirate one of the world’s most modern power generation facilities. It also cements Saudi-owned ACWA’s position as a dominant global force in the development of concentrated solar power (CSP).

Norway’s Saga Energy has signed a €2.5bn ($2.9bn) contract to build solar power plants in Iran, the latest in a growing trend for large renewable energy deals involving European companies in the Islamic Republic. The deal, signed with state-owned Amin Energy Developers, covers power plants at six sites across Razavi Khorasan, Kerman and Yazd provinces. The initial step will involve a 180MW plant but the full contract covers up to 2GW of power generation capacity developed over four to five years.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) on 16 September announced the award of a $3.9bn contract to build and operate a 700MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant to a Chinese/Saudi consortium of Shanghai Electric and Acwa Power. The project includes a 260 meter-high tower, which the emirate government said would be the world’s tallest CSP tower.

Qatar Foundation (QF) subsidiary Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) has increased its investment in the SolarWorld group, with the purchase of 49% of the equity in SolarWorld Industries GmbH, a special purpose vehicle bundling up the troubled German renewables company’s assets. In late August, insolvency administrator Horst Piepenburg sanctioned the sale of nearly all property, plant, equipment, inventories and intangible assets of four SolarWorld companies, which were bundled into the newly-created SolarWorld Industries. It includes production plants in Freiberg and Arnstadt in eastern Germany.

Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWPC) plans to raise its mainly gas-fired electricity generation capacity to 11.7GW in 2023, up from 7.77GW at end-2016, according to the state utility’s seven-year plan, published in late May. While generation is slated to rise by 51%,peak power demand is forecast to increase by 53% to 9.96GW in 2023, from 6.52GW at end-2016. According to OPWPC, demand for gas supply to the Main Interconnected System (MIS – Muscat and northern Oman) and Dhofar grids will rise by 24% in the period to 2023, equivalent to 1.9bcm/yr.

Energy, industry and mineral resources minister Khalid Al-Falih has fired the starting gun on renewable energy plans, with a request for proposals (RFP) released on 17 April for a 300MW solar power project in Sakaka. It will soon be followed by an RFP for the other element of the first round of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), a 400MW wind project. Earlier in April, the Renewable Energy Project Development Office named 51 qualified bidders for the two schemes.

The six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have joined with Iraq, Yemen and six other countries to sign a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a joint electricity market. The agreement was signed in Cairo on the sidelines of the 12th session of the Arab Ministerial Council for Electricity and also involves Algeria, the Comoros, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Sudan.

Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation announced on 1 March that it has begun construction of the Bushehr-2 nuclear power plant, on Iran’s Gulf coast. The unit is due to be operational by October 2024 and a third unit will follow by April 2026. Rosatom said it was carrying out the project in co-operation with two unnamed Iranian contractors.

The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources launched its first requests for qualifications for the National Renewable Energy Programme on 20 February. It marks the start of an ambitious plan to develop 3.45GW of renewable energy by 2020 and 9.5GW by 2023. First round projects include the installation of 300MW of solar photovoltaic energy at Sakaka, in Al-Jouf province, and a 400MW wind project at Midyan, Tabuk province. The projects will be backed by a 25-year power purchase agreement for the solar scheme and a 20-year PPA for the wind project.