Recent research by Frost & Sullivan, Solar PV Dominating Investment Opportunities in Renewable Sector across the Middle East, 2025-2025, shows that the demand to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compels the Middle East— United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon— to embrace renewable energies.

With an additional potential of 57GW — solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), and wind— by 2025, the area is expected to be experiencing an 18-fold rise in current output, thereby receiving $182.3 billion of investment.

Despite this, the COVID-19 crisis has adversely affected the demand for renewable energy through disruptions in the supply chain, delays in tendering procedures, falling oil prices and government restrictions.

“Capabilities in solar are more pronounced compared to wind energy as most countries in the region fall under the Sun Belt. Going forward, with wind making less than 20% of the total renewable energy installed capacity by 2025, solar energy investments are relatively more attractive.

“Qatar and Saudi Arabia are hubs of polysilicon production. Solar cell manufacturing and solar panel assembly are key areas to consider for investment. Going forward, in terms of value, solar PV investments are expected to contribute the most, at 67.4% of the opportunity size for the next five years, followed by solar CSP investments at 17.5%.”

Saraswathi Venkatesan, energy & environment research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

GHG emissions are the burden of the industries that have historically used fossil fuel-based energy in the region. Over the next few years, they are expected to shift to solar energy which offers immense growth prospects for market participants, such as:

• Exploring, innovating, and investing in new storage solutions.
• Integrating waterless robotic solar panel cleaners that don’t cause damage to solar panels.
• Lobbying to make local investments more profitable. More subsidies, incentives, exemptions, and preferential pricing for local procurement are areas to explore.
• Using artificial intelligence (AI) and digital analytics to handle renewable power generation’s intermittency. Hence, vendors can tap into opportunities exposed by the penetration of technology in the solar PV space.