Abstract
It is a well-known fact that the fossil fuel industry has dominated the economy of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries during the last few decades. However, recent developments show that most of the GCC countries plan to increase the share of renewable energy (RE) in their future electrical power production. To ensure realistic increase in the share of RE in the production of electricity in the future, firm policies must be laid down with the objective to promote and market the benefit of RE to their citizens. Due to the high-solar radiation in the GCC region, the focus is now on solar energy development. This paper presents an up-to-date review of the progress made on solar energy in the GCC together with the challenges and the way forward. Some of the challenges and barriers hindering the development of RE in the GCC are in the area of technological know-how, policy development, and insufficient application of RE technology integrated in the buildings among others. Areas of improvement include promoting research and development, public/private initiatives, legislation and regulatory framework, solutions to technical issues and exchange of knowledge, scientific advice, and last but not the least is the issue of building integration with RE.
Highlights
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries comprise Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
There has been a great development of renewable energy (RE), especially solar, within the GCC countries
These developments have been done as current projects or future projects without necessary underpinning it with strategic policy development plans, which could have driven other players into the projects
Summary
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries comprise Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Energies 2018, 11, 372 their current budget deficits It is a well-known fact that the GCC countries depend on oil as the major energy source, especially for power generation, which is non-renewable. The environmental impact from non-renewable energy (RE) sources such as gas and oil are enormous and can cause a major challenge for these countries. According to an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report [8], the GCC countries could gain numerous benefits from RE implementation These include oil savings of about 400 billion barrels and creating 210,000 jobs by the year 2030.
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