Abstract
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—hold almost 30% of the world’s total proven oil reserves and around 20% of its total proven natural gas reserves. They are also endowed with a high abundance of renewable energy resources such as solar and wind. Yet, the GCC’s primary energy consumption is still dominated by fossil fuels, and the share of renewable energy still does not exceed 1%. Drawing on secondary data, including journal articles, governmental and companies’ websites, and reports and newspaper articles, this paper assesses the reasons behind their underutilization of renewable energy resources. Whereas technical and economic feasibility issues had been identified as the main barriers to slow the uptake of renewable energy technologies in the GCC, this paper uncovered that various additional factors have remarkably influenced such delays. High hydrocarbon subsidies, low electricity tariff structure, fragmented energy policy, the absence of dedicated renewable energy regulator and regulatory framework, and a highly controlled power market are major barriers to renewable energy adoption in the GCC. The paper concludes with policy options to inform scaling up the adoption of renewable energy in the GCC.
Highlights
Global warming—caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions sourced from the combustion of hydrocarbons [1,2]—along with increasing energy demands globally, are among the main triggers in the global search for alternative sources of energy that are less polluting and cleaner, like renewable energy technologies.Hydrocarbon resources—with almost 30% of the world’s total proven oil reserves and around 20% of its total proven natural gas reserves [3]—have been central in meeting the energy needs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates
This paper aims to assess the reasons behind such underutilization of renewable energy resources in the GCC states
The specific objectives of this paper are to: justify the importance of advancing renewable energy in the GCC (Section 2); provide an overview of the current state of renewable energy development in each GCC state (Section 3); identify the barriers that have slowed the deployment of renewable energy technologies across the GCC (Section 4); and put forward policy recommendations to overcome barriers and promote successful implementation of renewable energy in the GCC (Section 5)
Summary
Global warming—caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions sourced from the combustion of hydrocarbons (coal, oil, and gas) [1,2]—along with increasing energy demands globally, are among the main triggers in the global search for alternative sources of energy that are less polluting and cleaner, like renewable energy technologies. The GCC states are faced with many internal challenges that trigger the need to develop alternative energy sources These include growing domestic energy consumption, eating up oil and gas export potential, and triggering the energy security profile across the region. The current share of renewable energy in the region’s total primary energy consumption still does not exceed 1% Against this background, this paper aims to assess the reasons behind such underutilization of renewable energy resources in the GCC states. A recent study identified the design and implementation of financial policies to support renewable energy adoption, which has been a challenge for their large-scale adoption [19,20] These investigations provide a good explanation of why the share of renewable energy in the GCC has remained low. The specific objectives of this paper are to: justify the importance of advancing renewable energy in the GCC (Section 2); provide an overview of the current state of renewable energy development in each GCC state (Section 3); identify the barriers that have slowed the deployment of renewable energy technologies across the GCC (Section 4); and put forward policy recommendations to overcome barriers and promote successful implementation of renewable energy in the GCC (Section 5)
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