GCC states could earn billions if they hit targets for renewables, report says

The Abu Dhabi-based agency said that meeting their stated targets would save the GCC countries 4 billion barrels of oil.

New figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) suggest that Arabian Gulf countries would earn hundreds of billions of dollars if they meet their targets for renewables by 2030.

The Abu Dhabi-based agency said that hitting their stated targets would result in a saving for GCC countries of 4 billion barrels of oil.

That oil could be used for export rather than domestic consumption, which at today’s crude price of about US$50, would equal $200 billion in additional revenue for Gulf countries.

“With the demand for energy expected to increase by more than one third over the next two decades, it is becoming essential that we diversify our resource pool to create a more sustainable model for energy security,” said Marie-José Nadeau, chair of the World Energy Council.

Dubai this year tripled its target for renewables as a share of energy usage to 15 per cent by 2030.

A release distributed by Masdar states that the latest figures from Irena equate to a 25 per cent reduction in fossil-fuel consumption in the power and water sector over the next 15 years. "Nearly three quarters, 74 per cent, of the anticipated 69 gigawatts of renewable energy produced in the GCC will be generated in Saudi Arabia," the release noted.

Still, Irena’s figures, in a regional report to be released before the World Future Energy Summit in January, assert that if targets are met, about 130,000 direct jobs per year could be created from now until 2030.

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