The Middle East is rewriting its energy story on the global stage. Historically synonymous with dominance in oil and gas, it is now leading the way in renewable energy integration across multiple sectors. According to Mordor Intelligence, the region’s renewable energy market is expected to grow at a rate of 13.43 percent between 2025 and 2030, with heavy investments in solar, wind, and hydrogen energy generation.
The global pressure to accelerate sustainability efforts in the aftermath of the COP28 conference, combined with the governmental focus on economic diversification, climate resilience, and technological advancement, have all led to significant strides being made in renewable energy generation. One of the earliest commitments made at the regional level was the Pan-Arab Clean Energy Initiative, adopted in 2013 by the Arab League to create a foundation for regional cooperation. Supported by the International Renewable Energy Agency, national leaders committed to increasing the region’s installed renewable power generation capacity from 12 gigawatts (GW) in 2013 to 80 GW in 2030.
Since then, there have been several initiatives launched by individual countries in keeping with their national priorities and resource availability. These include UAE’s Net Zero 2050 Strategy, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Qatar’s National Vision 2030 and Oman’s Vision 2040 , all of which set forth clear objectives for diversifying energy sources. Their progress in this regard can be broadly classified into the following categories:
Solar Energy
As a region known for its plentiful sunshine all-year round, there exists extremely high potential for harnessing solar energy in the Gulf. According to the latest updates from DEWA, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in UAE is one of the flagship solar power projects in the region, projected to reach a 7,260 Megawatt (MW) capacity by 2030. Upon its completion, the solar park will reduce eight million tonnes of carbon emissions and play a major role in achieving the country’s net-zero ambitions. It is also the world’s largest single-site solar park with the largest thermal energy storage capacity, equal to nearly 6,000 MW Hours.
Saudi Arabia’s Al Shuaibah Twin Power Plants are also important producers of solar energy, with a combined capacity of 2,631 MW that can supply electricity to 450,000 households. They are expected to significantly boost the share of renewable energy in the country’s electricity generation, contributing around 50 percent of the energy mix by 2030 and expected to generate about 280 billion kWh over 35 years and offset 20 million tonnes of CO2.
Lastly, Egypt’s Benban Solar Park is a major project that consists of 41 individual solar power plants generating approximately 1,800 MW of renewable energy. Each plant is connected to Egypt’s national grid and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 2 million tons of CO2 annually, making it a key contributor to the country’s green energy resources.
Wind Energy
Wind energy offers a low-cost, inexhaustible and sustainable source of energy that produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation. Egypt’s Gulf of Suez wind farm is the flagship wind power project in the MENA region, built with an investment totaling over USD 1 Billion. The 1,100MW project can power 1,080,000 homes with clean energy, while also offsetting nearly 2.4 million tons of emissions per year. Saudi Arabia has also tapped into wind with Dumat Al Jandal, the first wind farm in the country that can generate 400 MW of renewable energy and power 70,000 homes with carbon-free electricity.
Hydrogen Energy
The use of hydrogen gas as a fuel product presents a promising solution for a sustainable future, with its compatibility with renewable systems, low emissions, and wide range of applications. Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Green Hydrogen company is set to be the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, with a total investment value of USD 8.4 Billion from over 20 financial institutions. The mega-plant will integrate up to 4GW of solar and wind energy to produce up to 600 tonnes per day of carbon-free hydrogen by the end of 2026 in the form of green-ammonia, providing a cost-effective solution for the transportation and industrial sectors globally.
Another country investing heavily in green hydrogen is Oman, which aims to produce 1-1.5 million tonnes of green H2 per annum by 2030, according to the official Oman Green Hydrogen Strategy. This is being executed via Hydrom, the central entity of the Sultanate for its green hydrogen mandate, which has also recently signed agreements worth USD 11 billion to progress towards its goals.
The UAE has launched an ambitious National Hydrogen Strategy 2050, aiming to produce 1.4 million tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen annually by 2031, including 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen, and scale up to 15 million tonnes by 2050.
Key initiatives include the development of hydrogen oases, investment in electrolyser infrastructure, and pioneering projects like DEWA’s Green Hydrogen Plant at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.
All these projects exemplify the transformative shift that the MENA region is undergoing in terms of renewable energy generation and usage. While there continue to be challenges hindering widespread adoption, such as the high upfront costs, inadequate infrastructure and storage, the lack of firm offtake agreements, water scarcity for electrolysis, and regulatory hurdles, the strong investor confidence and cost competitiveness provide increasing optimism for the future. The region has just begun to unravel the possibilities of renewable energy sources. It is evidently committed to building a sustainable future for the well-being of both the environment and its people.
This opinion piece has been authored by Dr Mutasim Nour, Director of MSc Energy and RE Programmes, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University Dubai.