Expert: GCC Countries Need to Invest in Renewables and Energy Efficiency

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Gulf oil producers must pump funds into renewable energy sources and focus on conservation measures to ensure sustainable growth and manage their supply-demand balance, according Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen of PennWell ME. Stanford-Kristiansen from the recent POWER-GEN Middle East conference in Doha, Qatar.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which control more than 40% of the world's proven oil resources, already have plans to invest heavily in the conventional energy sector to meet rising power and water demand, but now need to focus on other sources of energy.

"In the coming years, far more attention will need to be placed on demand supply management," Stanford-Kristiansen said. "To ensure sustainable growth in the long-term, more investment needs to be channeled towards energy-efficiency measures, such as clean fuel and renewable energy supplies, and improving water efficiency, and investing in new water desalination capacity, and buying or leasing agricultural land abroad."

More emphasis was needed on solar power. GCC governments needed to implement new projects to meet peak power loads, mitigate ageing power infrastructure, and support new diversification plans. Conservation measures, such as energy-efficient buildings, district cooling, metering and grid interconnections, are slowly becoming higher priorities, but need to be enforced much more rigorously, she said.

Multi-billion-dollar projects are in the cards in the GCC and other Arab countries in 2013, including nearly $17 billion in Saudi Arabia, and projects worth $4.2 billion are being planned in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, Stanford-Kristiansen said. Solar-related manufacturing would create jobs and assist in economic diversification she added. For related information, see January 15, 2013, article - Persian Gulf Project Stream Now More than $2 Trillion, and January 11, 2013, article -GCC Going Big and Long-Term on Renewable Energy.

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