meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

GCC battery storage pipeline hits over 55GWh

28 February 2025

Analysis
Jennifer Aguinaldo
Energy & technology editor

 

The battery energy storage system (bess) plant project pipeline in the GCC region – mainly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE – has reached 55.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of estimated rated capacity.

Data from MEED and regional projects tracker MEED Projects indicates that schemes with a total capacity of about 21.7GWh are under construction, primarily in Saudi Arabia, while bess plants in the pre-execution phase have an estimated cumulative rated capacity of 33.8GWh.

This substantial pipeline has been built over the past two to three years, when a total of 3.9GWh of capacity was built in Saudi Arabia through the 1.3GWh Red Sea multi-utility project and the recently completed 2.6GWh battery energy storage plant by Saudi Arabia's National Grid.

"The main energy storage driver across the GCC region is the rapid deployment of low-cost solar power to meet growing demand," notes Marek Kubik, a Saudi Arabia-based industry expert. 

"As photovoltaic (PV) produces power only in the day and is a non-synchronous form of power, this brings with it certain balancing, ramping and stability challenges. 

"Bess is needed for storing and shifting solar power from day to night, to reduce congestion and improve utilisation on the transmission system, as well as providing stability services to support stable grid operations," says Kubik.

Capacity ramp-up

With an estimated 775MW/3.9GWh of deployed capacity at the end of 2024, the GCC region accounts for a small proportion of the global deployment of about 160GW or 363GWh, according to the Volta Foundation.

The global not-for-profit group said global bess installations last year accounted for more than 45% of the total cumulative global capacity.

The region is poised to catch up with the rest of the world, however. Saudi Arabia's Bisha bess plant is one of 17 projects globally with a capacity of over 1GWh that entered operations in 2024.

A total of 21.7GWh of capacity is under construction in Saudi Arabia and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with more under way.

Such growth will likely overtake the 55% year-on-year growth observed by the Volta Foundation.

The GCC region’s first major bess independent power producer (IPP) scheme was integrated into Red Sea Global’s multi-utility package in Saudi Arabia.

Developed by Saudi utility developer Acwa Power and built by China’s Huawei Digital, the 1,300 megawatt-hour (MWh) facility caters to the 28,000 square-kilometre “regenerative” tourism project on the west coast of the kingdom, which is being powered 100% by clean energy.

A bess facility with a capacity of 760MWh is also included in a similar multi-utility package for Red Sea Global’s sister development, Amaala.

The 2.6GWh Bisha represents an important milestone, ushering the kingdom onto the list of the world's top locations for lithium iron phosphate (LFP)-based bess.

So far, every utility or grid operator in the GCC, Morocco and Jordan plans to procure or has started to procure bess capacity independently, to balance their grid as electricity demand and renewable energy capacity increase, or as part of a solar power plant scheme.

In the absence of viable hydropower capacity, which is the main energy storage capacity in non-water-scarce regions, or thermal energy storage systems like molten salt, bess is emerging as the best alternative to enhance the flexibility of existing energy or electricity systems as sources increasingly diversify.

Abu Dhabi state utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) received 93 expressions of interest and prequalified more than two dozen companies to bid individually or as members of consortiums for its first pair of bess plants, which will have a capacity of up to 800MWh.

In January, Ewec and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) announced a project that aims to convert solar power into base load capacity by coupling a 5GW solar PV plant with a 19GWh battery energy storage facility in Abu Dhabi.

Falling lithium prices and oversupply 

The need for grid flexibility and a steep fall in the price of lithium – the main raw material for the dominant battery technology – has helped utilities to move forward with their plans to procure bess, which was considered cost-prohibitive until a year ago.

According to a BloombergNEF (BNEF) report in December, lithium-ion battery pack prices dropped 20% from 2023, to a record-low of $115 a kilowatt-hour.

Factors driving the decline include cell manufacturing overcapacity, economies of scale, low metal and component prices, the adoption of lower-cost LFP batteries and a slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales growth.

In the past two years, battery manufacturers have expanded production capacity in anticipation of surging demand for batteries in the EV and stationary storage sectors.

According to BNEF, overcapacity is rife, with 3.1 terawatt-hours of fully commissioned battery-cell manufacturing capacity globally, which is more than 2.5 times the annual demand for lithium-ion batteries in 2024.

It added that while demand in all sectors saw year-on-year growth, the EV market – the biggest demand driver for batteries – grew more slowly than in recent years.

In contrast, stationary storage markets have taken off, with strong competition in cell and system providers, especially in China.

Completed and under-construction bess plants in the GCC are all supplied by Chinese battery cell and system providers. BYD and Sungow account for 59% and 36% of completed and under-construction battery energy storage plants in Saudi Arabia, respectively, while Huawei accounts for the rest.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Company (CATL) will be supplying the battery cell and systems for Abu Dhabi's round-the-clock 1GW solar project.

Prices are expected to fall further, which will likely accelerate GCC deployments.

Some experts predict the prices could drop to as low as $50/kWh-$25/kWh and, at best, to as low as $10/kWh by the end of the decade, subject to extrapolating current battery learning rates of about 25% for every doubling of capacity. 

Longer-duration battery cells

Despite their expected widespread deployment, there are concerns that batteries providing up to six hours of storage may not be sufficient to address the peak electricity demand in most GCC states.

Demand in the GCC states peaks between 6pm and 6am, when air-conditioning systems, street lighting and other home appliances are turned on, and where there is little wind capacity to supply renewable power.  

Nevertheless, a staged approach to bess deployment is necessary to get to a fully net-renewable electricity system, says Kubik.

"Around the world, this is approached in a staged manner and bess of increasing duration is added over time, as the depth of renewable penetration increases," he says.

"The GCC has, to an extent, leapfrogged other markets by starting with four-hour to six-hour bess, but over time this need will grow to about eight- to 10-hours, which is enough to move to more or less a ‘baseload’ around-the-clock solar profile. As LFP costs continue to fall, longer-duration systems are rapidly becoming more economic." 

READ MEED’s YEARBOOK 2025

MEED’s 16th highly prized flagship Yearbook publication is available to read, offering subscribers analysis on the outlook for the Mena region’s major markets.

Published on 31 December 2024 and distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the MEED Yearbook 2025 includes:

> GIGAPROJECTS INDEX: Gigaproject spending finds a level
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13438887/main5753.jpg
Jennifer Aguinaldo

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Chinese contractor wins Morocco solar plant deal

    10 August 2026

    China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), has won a contract to build a solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Fez in northern Morocco.

    Known as GreenPower Morocco 4 (GPM4), the project is being developed by Moroccan company GPM Holding through its utility-scale solar subsidiary GPM Parks.

    The project covers engineering design, equipment procurement and installation, construction of an operation and maintenance building, grid connection and commissioning. It also includes upgrades to the associated substation.

    According to CHEC, the completed plant will supply electricity to the local grid, although it did not disclose the project’s capacity or contract value. 

    The project is being developed under Law 13-09, which provides Morocco’s framework for private renewable energy generation.

    According to its website, GPM Holding is also developing another solar PV project called GreenPower Morocco 2 (GPM2). This follows the completion of its first solar project, the 34MW project (GPM1) commissioned in Tangier in 2024. 

    GPM1 was developed by Green Power Morocco, a special purpose vehicle owned by GPM Holding and UAE-based Amea Power. The $30m project covers 75 hectares and includes 91,000 PV panels. It is expected to generate about 66,149MWh a year.

    The project has a 25-year power purchase agreement in place with Amendis, a subsidiary of Veolia Morocco. PowerChina was the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

    Chinese contractors have previously been involved in other projects in Morocco’s renewable energy sector.

    Shandong Electric Power Construction Company (Sepco 3), a subsidiary of PowerChina, was part of the EPC consortium for the 200MW Noor 2 concentrated solar plants and 150MW Noor 3 concentrated solar power projects at the Noor Ouarzazate complex.

    New contract awards have been limited in Morocco in 2026, although six solar PV plants are now in the execution stage under phases one and two of the 305MW Noor Atlas solar PV programme.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18263680/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Aramco puts out fire at Jizan refinery after Houthi strike

    10 August 2026

    Saudi Aramco said it had extinguished a fire that broke out at its Jizan refinery on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast after the facility was hit in drone strikes by Yemen-based Houthi rebels on 9 August.

    The kingdom’s Ministry of Energy said the fire occurred at an Aramco refinery facility in Jizan and that emergency authorities had completed the necessary procedures to deal with the incident.

    The energy ministry did not say what started the fire, saying only that the incident caused no injuries.

    The Houthi rebels later claimed responsibility for the attack.

    The province of Jizan lies close to Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen and has repeatedly been targeted by the Houthis in attacks on the kingdom’s energy infrastructure.

    The strike on the Jizan refinery was the second attack on the facility by the Houthis in as many weeks. Aramco shut the refinery on 27 July following a similar drone strike, which, according to media reports, damaged the integrated gasification combined-cycle unit and tank farm at the complex.

    On a call with investors to discuss Aramco’s second-quarter results, CEO Amin Nasser said recent attacks on the company’s facilities in the world’s top oil-exporting country had caused some disruption to production, but that he was confident operations could be restored quickly. He said the attacks had had no material operational or financial impact.

    Jizan refinery complex

    Saudi Aramco’s sprawling Jizan refinery complex entered operations in 2021.

    Aramco undertook the estimated $16bn-plus project in late 2010. The scheme consists of a refinery with an output capacity of 400,000 barrels a day (b/d), a major marine terminal and a 4GW combined-cycle power plant in Baish, in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan region.

    The Jizan refinery covers an area of 12 square kilometres. The complex processes Arabian Heavy and Arabian Medium crude grades to produce 80 million b/d of gasoline, 250 million b/d of diesel and more than 1 million tonnes a year of petrochemical products such as benzene and paraxylene.

    A multiple-pier marine terminal supports the supply of crude oil from oil fields located mainly in the kingdom’s Eastern Province to the refinery, as well as the export of surplus refined products to overseas markets. The terminal has been designed to accommodate very large crude carriers.

    A 4,000MW combined-cycle power plant uses approximately 90,000 b/d of vacuum residue from the refinery to generate electricity, hydrogen and water for the refinery, while conveying excess power to the national grid.

    The hydrocracker unit comprises two parallel trains with a combined capacity of 54,500 b/d. The diesel hydrotreater plant comprises two trains, each with a capacity of 87,500 b/d.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18262347/main.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Shamal picks Dutco for Dubai Zoo site homes

    10 August 2026

    Dubai-based Shamal Holding has awarded local contractor Dutco Construction the main construction works contract for a low-rise residential project on the site of the former Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah 1.

    The project will comprise 90 low-rise homes and is designed as a residential leasing community that will remain under Shamal’s ownership, with all homes offered for premium leasing.

    The development will retain mature trees from the former zoo and is planned around shared courtyards, landscaped open spaces and a central park. Residents will have access to a clubhouse, wellness area, children’s play area, family pool, lounge and gym.

    The architect is DXB Lab. The local H&H is the development manager for the project.

    Dutco has previously worked with Shamal on infrastructure elements of the Dubai Harbour and Dubai Harbour Marinas developments.

    Shamal’s wider real estate portfolio includes the Naia Island, Dubai Harbour and Nad Al-Sheba Gardens developments. The company also holds hospitality and leisure assets, including partnerships with Jumeirah, Hilton and Baccarat, and operates attractions such as Skydive Dubai and Deep Dive Dubai.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18262386/main.png
    Colin Foreman
  • WEBINAR: Mena Oil & Gas Projects Market 2026-27

    10 August 2026

    Webinar: Mena Oil & Gas Projects Market 2026-27 
    Thursday 27 August 2026 | 11:00 AM GST  |  Register now

    Agenda:

    • Summary of the Mena oil, gas and petrochemicals projects market 
    • Overview of major megaprojects, including project programmes
    • Analysis of active contracts and spending to date
    • Review of top contracts by work already awarded
    • Long-term capital expenditure outlays and forecasts
    • Key contracts expected to be tendered and awarded over the next 18 months
    • Leading clients, contractors and market participants
    • Spending by segment: oil, gas and petrochemicals (upstream, downstream, onshore and offshore) 
    • Audience Q&A 

    Hosted by: Indrajit Sen, MEED’s oil & gas editor

    Click here to register

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18260597/main.gif
    Indrajit Sen
  • Spanish firm renews Yanbu desalination O&M contract

    10 August 2026

    Spain’s Aqualia has announced it has renewed a contract to operate and maintain three floating desalination plants in Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

    The contract was awarded by the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and will run until 14 September 2028, with an option to extend for a further two years.

    The three reverse osmosis (RO) plants are mounted on barges and have a combined production capacity of 150,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). Each plant has a capacity of 50,000 cm/d.

    The three plants were originally deployed at Al-Shuqaiq and are designed to be relocated along Saudi Arabia’s coastline according to water demand. The barges are currently located at Yanbu.

    The $255m floating desalination project was commissioned for the Saudi Water Authority in 2022, with Bahri as the developer and UAE-based Metitio as the main contractor.

    Bahri is publicly listed on the Saudi Exchange but has significant government ownership, with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) holding 22.5% and Saudi Aramco Development Company owning 20% of the company.

    Aqualia is providing operation and maintenance services in Saudi Arabia through its joint venture Haji Abdullah Alireza Integrated Services Company (Haaisco), in which it holds a 51% stake.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18259350/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall