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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 […]

An Acwa Power wind turbine in Morocco. The company says not enough developers are in Africa

Acwa Power plans a bold investment future in Africa

Saudi Arabia-listed Acwa Power is targeting future investments in Africa as part of the clean energy company’s plan to triple in size by 2030. “Africa needs that energy transition. But there aren’t enough developers going there and asking questions,” said Raad Al-Saady, vice chairman and managing director of Acwa Power, during a panel discussion at […]

Metito Utilities and Tahliya Group executives sign the agreement to develop an irrigation project in Morocco

UAE companies to develop irrigation project in Morocco

Dubai-based Metito Utilities and Tahliya Group, a UAE-based infrastructure company in Africa, have signed an agreement to develop an irrigation project using desalinated water in Morocco. The desalination projects will be powered by renewable energy, the companies said in a statement released during the Cop28 climate summit taking place in Dubai. No financial details on […]

Water scarcity in Iraq is impacting on Mustafa Ahmed, 13, forcing his family to sell their buffalo

UAE pledges $150m for Mena water security

A $150 million commitment from the UAE at Cop28 to fund water security solutions in vulnerable countries is a step in the right direction but more must be done to address the issue, say experts. Speaking at a panel discussion at the climate change conference in Dubai, Ramadan Assi, executive adviser for strategic partnerships at […]

Harvesting wheat in Sharkia, Egypt. The Opec Fund is backing food security projects in Egypt and Jordan – both big importers of grain

Opec Fund piles up financing for wheat, wind and water

The Opec Fund for International Development is on track to meet its pledges to increase grants and loans to climate-related projects, its Middle East and North Africa head has told AGBI.  Musab Alomar, the fund’s director of public sector operations for Mena, said climate financing made up 33 percent of all Opec Fund approvals in […]

Drinking water from an outdoor tap in Egypt

AI to help drive Middle East water reuse 

The International Water Management Institute is developing an AI platform to improve wastewater reuse in the Middle East and North Africa region, backed by a $1 million grant from Google.  Water scarcity is a concern in the region. Almost three-quarters (73 percent) of the 1,000 UAE respondents to a recent survey listed access to clean […]

A woman collects water from a well in Tunis. Tunisia is having to operate a quota system for tap water

Droughts could cost Tunisia $1bn annually

Water shortages in Tunisia could cost the North African country up to $1.3 billion annually by 2030, according to a report from the World Bank. For the sixth year in a row, below-average rainfall impacted the country’s agricultural production. The sector’s value fell 9 percent in real terms in the first half of this year […]

Metito desalination project in Port Ghalib Egypt

Alpha Dhabi takes over water specialist Metito

Investment company Alpha Dhabi announced on Monday the acquisition of a majority stake in Metito Holdings, a company involved in the water and wastewater industry worldwide.  Pending regulatory approvals, the deal marks Abu Dhabi-based Alpha Dhabi’s entry into the water and wastewater sector, with its CEO saying the need for sustainable water solutions “has never […]

Saudi water agency Global Water Organisation

Saudi water agency seeking global partnerships

A Saudi government body set up this week to address global water challenges hopes to collaborate with other organisations across the world to meet its goals, the kingdom’s environment minister said on Friday.  “The vision for this initiative is not just about creating a research and policy platform,” said Abdul Rahman Al Fadhli, Saudi Arabia’s […]

Masdar green bond

Masdar chief hails ‘defining moment’ in $3bn green fund

The chairman of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, better known as Masdar, has described the completion of its debut green bond issuance as a “defining moment”. The $750 million 10-year senior unsecured notes are listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and form the first part of a programme to raise up to $3 billion. […]

Prices in Egypt climbed 1.4% month on month in December 2023, driven by an annual increase of 60.5% in food and beverage items

High-tech greenhouse turns up heat on UAE sustainability

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ has teamed up with Netherlands-based Safe Haven Solutions to build a high-tech greenhouse in the UAE capital. The 10-hectare facility will be built in ADQ’s AgTech Park in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi. It will use advanced agriculture technology such as a cooling system inside the greenhouse to help […]

Saudi minister of investment Khalid al-Falih is head of Saudi Arabia's Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority

Saudi and Brazil sow seeds to partner on food security

Saudi Arabia is intensifying its trade and investment ties with Latin America in pursuit of food security and green energy, as a ministry-led delegation hunts for opportunities in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Argentina, Panama and Paraguay. A visit to São Paulo earlier this week by Khalid al-Falih, Saudi minister of investment, coincided with a Brazilian […]

Acwa Power CEO Marco Arcelli says it is the 'only company in the world that is a leader' in renewables, desalination and green hydrogen

Acwa Power bids to turbocharge Saudi’s green targets

When it comes to the green transition, Saudi Arabia has got some catching up to do. The country is targeting a 50-50 split in electricity generation between renewables and gas by 2030, but in 2021 just 0.2 percent of electricity came from renewable sources. To achieve this Vision 2030 goal, the country has tasked its […]

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri

Cop28 urges nations to put food at heart of climate action

The UAE has called on governments around the world to put food at the centre of their climate-change agendas. Speaking at the UN Food Systems Summit in Rome on Monday, Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, the UAE’s minister of climate change and the environment and Cop28 food systems lead, invited governments to sign the Leaders Declaration […]

Iran water

Iran is running out of water, with little sign of progress

During the winter months, snowfall carpets the Alborz mountains that loom over Tehran, sending millions of gallons of water through the capital’s roadside drains known as jubes and world-famous qanat systems of underground aqueducts. Across the country, a series of naturally occurring lakes and rivers combined with reservoirs and dams combine to trap the snowmelt. […]