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Sustainability

Sustainability and environmental business news, opinion and analysis from the Middle East

Solar power

Solar PV power station Renewable energy capacity

Abu Dhabi moves ahead on new renewable project 

UAE state-owned Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) is seeking expressions of interest for the development of a greenfield 400-megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) project. The BESS technology aims to diversify EWEC’s energy portfolio, as its total solar photovoltaic power generation capacity will reach 7.5 gigawatts by 2030, the UAE state-run Wam news agency […]

Executives at the foundation-stone ceremony for United Solar Polysilicon's factory in Sohar

Oman closer to solar goal with new Sohar factory

United Solar Polysilicon has started work on a $1.3 billion polysilicon factory in Oman’s Sohar Port and Freezone, believed to be the first of its kind in the Middle East. Polysilicon, a high-purity form of silicon, is a key raw material in the production of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Operations at the 160,000-square-metre Sohar factory […]

Masdar's hurricane-resistant solar power plant on the island of Barbuda

Masdar opens solar energy plant in the Caribbean

A hurricane-resistant solar power project developed by Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company Masdar for Antigua and Barbuda is now operational. Situated on Barbuda, the plant is designed to survive 265 km-per-hour winds and provide a safe and sustainable supply of electrical power for the island. The Green Barbuda project is part of the $50 million […]

Masdar to build solar plants for UAE defence ministry

Abu Dhabi’s clean energy giant Masdar and the UAE defence ministry have agreed to develop multi-solar plants across Abu Dhabi.  Emerge, a joint venture between Masdar and France’s EDF Group, will provide a full turnkey solution for the projects for 25 years, including finance, design, procurement, construction, operations, and maintenance. No other project details were […]

A solar installation in Morocco. The $20bn Xlinks Morocco-UK renewables project should be operational by 2030

XLinks reaffirms UK is priority for Morocco power project

British renewable power company Xlinks is “100 percent committed to the UK” despite reports suggesting it was refocusing its attention on Germany. Xlinks is overseeing the $22 billion Morocco-UK renewables project, which involves building solar panel and wind farms in the desert of the North African country. Via the installation of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) […]

Latest Sustainability News

Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia’s minister of investment, trade and industry, said the two countries are close to finalising the deal

Digital economy focus of UAE-Malaysia trade talks

The UAE is expected to sign a free trade deal with Malaysia by the end of June as the latter courts more investment to develop its digital economy. Talks on establishing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) began last year and Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia’s minister of investment, trade and industry, said the two […]

US company CarbonCapture builds direct air capture machines that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Saudi Aramco unit backs US climate tech startup

CarbonCapture, a climate tech company, has raised $80 million from investors, including Saudi Aramco’s venture capital unit. The series A fundraising was led by Prime Movers Lab and included Aramco Ventures, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Siemens Financial Services, Idealab X, and Marc Benioff’s Time Ventures. The Los Angeles-headquartered startup’s latest major funding round is one […]

An alfalfa field in Arizona. Fondomonte used land in the state to grow the water-intensive crop for export to Saudi Arabia

Saudi company faces blowback over water use in Arizona

The US state of Arizona has cancelled land lease deals with a subsidiary of the Saudi dairy company Almarai after complaints of groundwater being depleted in the arid region. The cancellation highlights tensions over corporations controlling foreign land for food security.  In 2014 Almarai’s Fondomonte bought and leased thousands of acres in Arizona and California, […]

saudi space debris

Saudi Arabia warns of space debris threat

Saudi Arabia is targeting lucrative and environmentally critical opportunities in the rubbish removal sector – in outer space. More than 27,000 man-made objects larger than 10 centimetres, such as defunct satellites and spent rocket stages, orbit Earth, according to Nasa. This space debris puts at stake billions of dollars of assets such as spacecraft and […]

Sellers at the fish market in Jizan, Saudi Arabia. The kingdom brought in regulations in 2021 to curb overfishing

Saudi Arabia and UAE back fishing subsidies ban

The UAE and Saudi Arabia were the only GCC countries to back a failed bid by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to curb subsidies that contribute to overfishing and wider fishing sector overcapacity. It had been hoped that the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS), which, according to WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has “been on the […]

'National emissions trading systems are essential to create a global carbon price,' said the European Energy Exchange

Turkey and Europe join up to promote carbon trading

The European Energy Exchange (EEX) and Turkish energy bourse Enerji Piyasalari Isletme A.S (Epias) have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop carbon emissions trading in Turkey. “We look forward to working with Epias in creating a robust emissions trading system (ETS) in Turkey by providing our expertise in carbon markets,” said EEX chief executive […]

An Emirates flight at Cairo International Airport. Emirates last year launched a $200 million fund to produce sustainable aviation fuel

Passengers pay for aviation’s sustainability shortcomings

Penalties imposed on the aviation industry for failing to meet stringent sustainability targets will ultimately lead to higher air fares for passengers, according to an industry expert. “The customer is going to pay the extra cost,” said Wahab Teffaha, secretary general of the Arab Air Carriers’ Organization, speaking at the 11th annual Arab Aviation Summit […]

Abu Dhabi's Offset8 is investing in Indonesia to fund biochar, which is made from burning agricultural waste and used for carbon sequestration

Asset manager Offset8 invests in Indonesia carbon project

Asset manager Offset8 Capital, which specialises in financing climate mitigation projects, has facilitated an undisclosed early-stage investment in a waste management scheme in Indonesia.  The project, run by Singapore-based sustainable waste management company Sawa EcoSolutions and its Indonesian operating arm Legasi Alam Indonesia, is expected to generate around $50 million of carbon credits over the […]

Masdar Arlington Energy is building two battery energy storage system projects in the UK towns of Rochdale and Stockport

Masdar starts work on two UK battery storage projects

Masdar Arlington Energy, a subsidiary of UAE’s Masdar, has started construction on two battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the UK. The Royle Barn Road plant in Rochdale and Welkin Road plant in Stockport will have a combined capacity of 55 MW and provide enough energy to power 25,700 homes.  Masdar acquired UK-based Arlington Energy in […]

DP World's terminal at Dakar in Senegal, one of the countries in the first phase of the decarbonisation project

DP World and Masdar link up for project to decarbonise ports

Two of the UAE’s biggest companies have formed a partnership that aims to decarbonise ports in the Middle East and Africa. Logistics group DP World has signed a three-year agreement with clean energy giant Masdar. Their initial focus will be on ports in Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Egypt. The companies will identify the best sites […]

'International partnerships are crucial,' says Anne-Marie Mountifield, chair of The Solent Cluster

UK’s Solent Cluster courts Gulf for green investment

The Solent Cluster, a network of 114 companies with interests on the English south coast, is considering working with Gulf companies to deliver $15 billion of green investment.  The group is prioritising decarbonisation and among its proposals are a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant for which Dubai’s national carrier Emirates and other airlines could become […]

An average of 1.4 GW of new solar capacity will be needed per year until 2037 to meet the increasing demand for electricity in Abu Dhabi engineers solar panels hard hats solar power

Abu Dhabi plans decade of solar power launches

Abu Dhabi is to launch a new solar power project each year for a decade, starting in 2027, Bruce Smith, strategy and planning executive director at the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), told AGBI. EWEC is also exploring the issuance of a green bond to finance this series of projects, he said. The company […]

UAE France

Climate transition galvanises ties between UAE and France

Climate transition is becoming a central focus of economic cooperation between the UAE and France as the countries agreed to establish a “Bilateral Climate Investment Platform”. The platform aims to accelerate joint projects and investments in clean energy sectors, with a particular focus on advancing the decarbonisation of industries such as steel, cement and petrochemicals. […]

Al Jaber and IAE representatives met in Paris and discussed ways to support climate change commitments

Take action to keep climate goal in reach, urges Al Jaber

The UAE consensus achieved at the Cop28 summit in Dubai set a clear roadmap for keeping global temperature rise to within 1.5C. Now the world must turn the plan into action and results, said Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber.  Al Jaber told the International Energy Agency roundtable in Paris on Tuesday that all stakeholders must […]

Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber and Cop28 director general Majid Al Suwaidi at the Closing Plenary session

UAE climate fund aims to mobilise $250bn by 2030

Altérra, a $30 billion climate-focused fund set up by the UAE and asset managers BlackRock, TPG and Brookfield, aims to catalyse the investment of $250 billion of private capital by 2030, its chief executive said.  “The vision for Altérra was borne out of the Cop28 agenda for how to make climate finance more available, accessible […]

ADGM

ADGM predicts fresh wave of green finance companies

Abu Dhabi Global Market has a “strong pipeline” of green and sustainable finance companies due to open in the free zone this year as the sector expands and matures, a senior ADGM official has told AGBI. “There are a number of asset managers and others establishing themselves here that are green and climate transition-focused,” said […]