GCC plays catch-up with green megaprojects
Attention-grabbing renewable projects continue to be developed across the Middle East, but lower oil prices, Covid-19 and capex cuts may hold back progress
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states—accepting that black gold also needs a greener counterpart—have been playing catch-up over the past five years in the hope of sustaining their long-term influence in the global energy markets. The rapid surge of US shale output over the last decade was also a timely motivator, threatening the region’s role as the historical epicentre of fossil fuels and diluting the impact of its Opec-facilitated powerplays. The Middle East’s curation of a new energy identity is well underway, but the region still lags most others. Renewables accounted for at least 70pc of total capacity expansion in almost all regions in 2019—other than in the Middle East
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