Solar power advances in the Middle East

Oil and natural gas may be at the base of the Middle Eastern power supply, but solar energy is slowly making strides in the area. With minimal rainfall and year-round sunshine, it’s about time Middle Eastern countries started putting more effort into renewables.

Regardless of the vast number of oil and gas reserves, the UAE has a significant lead in renewables compared to its neighbors, investing billions of dollars on alternative energy projects like Dubai’s solar powered hotel. The first of its kind in the Middle East, Diamond Developers and InterContinental Hotels Group have teamed up to build Indigo Hotel set to open in early 2017. 100 percent of the hotel’s power will be sourced from solar energy, and will even provide a solar-powered shuttle service.

Other places in the region that have also expressed their interest in solar energy include Gaza. Recent conflict in the area has put a strain on their traditional energy sources causing constant blackouts, which poses as a huge obstacle for public facilities such as hospitals. In the Gaza Strip, a 16-hour-long power outage is a daily occurrence for residents, and the unreliability of power could be the difference between life and death. To supply Gaza hospitals with stable electricity, a group of Canadian doctors together with Islamic Relief Canada and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) are currently crowdfunding a project called “EmpowerGAZA.” They require $200,000 to install solar panels at the first hospital, and aim to fundraise so that an additional three hospitals can run on solar energy.

Despite the progress in solar power, oil and gas remain as an integral part of Middle Eastern economies, so companies have adopted environmentally friendly strategies so that they are also producing clean energy. A local Iraqi firm, which recently signed a contract to redevelop several gas compressor stations, launched the world’s largest flare reduction project in 2013 that would utilize wasted gas resources and convert it into clean and reliable energy. They also aim to do this “whilst helping to reduce the environmental impact caused by the flared gas in Basrah.”

But reality now is that solar is now cheaper than fossil fuels, which was revealed in a conference in Paris recently. Oil and gas powered countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, could potentially save billions in investments by making the switch.