meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

The way forward for the region’s energy transition

12 December 2022

Published in partnership with

Whichever way one looks at it, the world faces a climate emergency. In its most recent multi-agency report published in September, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warns that there is an almost one in two chance that the annual mean temperature in at least one of the next five years will be 1.5°C higher than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. 

This figure is important because it would breach the maximum temperature rise set by countries under the terms of the 2015 Paris Agreement and underlines the lack of progress in reducing harmful emissions. 

“Floods, droughts, heatwaves, extreme storms and wildfires are going from bad to worse, breaking records with alarming frequency,” said UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres in the report.

“Heatwaves in Europe. Colossal floods in Pakistan. Prolonged and severe droughts in China, the Horn of Africa and the United States. There is nothing natural about the new scale of these disasters. They are the price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction.”

There are multiple ways to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, with a common thread among them being using technology as a solution. 

Whether by making gas turbines more efficient, producing new low-carbon or carbon-free fuels such as hydrogen, increasing renewable energy output, or ensuring homes, towns and cities are ‘smarter’ in their use of electricity, technological innovation presents a means for countries to lower their carbon outputs. 

All [the reports] stressed we are not on track to keep climate change below 2 degrees, or even keep the 1.5 degree target within reach. More work needs to be done

Mohamed Nasr, Egypt's lead negotiator at Cop27

Scale of the problem

In the series of six articles MEED has published in association with Siemens Energy, we have explored the chief challenges the Middle East and Africa regions are facing in the fight against global warming and some of the opportunities and potential solutions to overcome them.

The first hurdle is recognising the scale of the climate challenge. The Siemens Energy Middle East & Africa Energy Week in June highlighted the disconnect between the perception of progress and reality, even among industry professionals. 

When asked to quantify CO2 reductions in their country today and what they will be in 2030 compared to 2005, Energy Week participants estimated that total emissions had fallen by 23 per cent on average over the past 17 years. Only one-third correctly answered that emissions had not only failed to fall, but had actually risen by 50 per cent over the same period. 

“All [of the reports] stressed that we are not on track to keep climate change below 2 degrees, or even keep the 1.5 degrees target within reach. More work needs to be done,” emphasised Mohamed Nasr, director of the Environment & Sustainable Development Department at Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and lead negotiator for Egypt at Cop27 during the event.

The harsh reality of the situation has underscored the pressing need for more rapid action among countries in the region. For the wealthier oil-exporting nations of the Middle East, much of the emphasis over the past 18 months has been placed on developing a green hydrogen industry to produce cleaner fuels. This is reflected by the more than 50 new green hydrogen projects announced in the GCC and North Africa over the past 18 months, which have an estimated investment value of more than $150bn. 

On the other hand, the priority for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa is very different as they battle the energy trilemma of extending affordable and reliable electricity provision to their populations. Spending billions of dollars on greenfield hydrogen developments and their associated infrastructure is not an option for many. Instead, the focus has generally been on smaller, off-grid renewable energy capacity to resolve the trilemma.

Working in tandem

Regardless of the approach adopted, the private sector recognises that companies need to work more collaboratively in the drive toward net zero. A case in point is the newly formed Alliance for Industry Decarbonization.

Announced in early September by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Siemens Energy, the alliance has already grown nearly threefold from the original 13 international energy and industrial members. 

The new industry grouping aims to achieve country-specific net-zero goals faster by encouraging action to decarbonise industrial value chains and enhance the understanding of renewables-based solutions and their adoption by industry. 

The alliance met for the first time at Cop27, where its members played a prominent role in discussions and thought leadership. Ultimately governments recognise that without corporates worldwide investing in clean energy projects and technology, there is little hope that targets will be achieved.

The intergovernmental summit ended on 20 November with a historic accord on setting up a fund to help compensate poorer nations for the economic and social destruction caused by climate change. 

But while the agreement, a culmination of some 30 years of negotiations between developed economies and developing nations, was a major step in the right direction, there remains a lot more that needs to be done to avoid an environmental catastrophe, such as setting legally-binding emission reduction targets, for example. 

The good news is that technologies and know-how are increasingly available to solve many of these challenges.

What is now needed is the political will and collaboration among nations and companies to work together to overcome our greatest threat. 

In the words of Siemens Energy president and CEO Christian Bruch: “The energy transition is the biggest investment programme since the dawn of industrialisation. If governments, business and society work together, energy transition is a massive opportunity. There is no excuse for waiting any longer.” 

Related reads:

Click here to visit Siemens Energy 
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10426502/main.gif
MEED Editorial

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

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Adnoc plans new offshore-to-onshore oil transport pipeline

    20 August 2026

     

    Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is moving ahead with an ambitious plan to build an oil pipeline network that will transport oil from its main offshore oil processing islands in the Gulf to its onshore crude export terminal in Jebel Dhanna, Abu Dhabi.

    The planned pipeline network will source crude from Zirku Island and Das Island, where Adnoc gathers and treats oil produced at Abu Dhabi’s offshore fields, among other processing hubs, and transport those volumes across 300 kilometres inland to the Jebel Dhanna terminal.

    According to sources, the proposed pipelines will eventually connect to the West-East crude pipeline network currently being built from Abu Dhabi’s Jebel Dhanna to the emirate of Fujairah, and is expected to be commissioned in 2027.

    The Abu Dhabi energy giant has awarded a contract for concept studies and front-end engineering and design (feed) to Abu Dhabi-based NT Energies, a joint venture of Abu Dhabi-based contractor NMDC Energy and France’s Technip Energies, sources told MEED.

    NT Energies is expected to carry out the concept studies and feed on a “fast-track basis”, with the work anticipated to take seven months, sources said.

    A kick-off meeting between the client and the appointed consultant took place on 6 July, sources added.

    Additionally, Adnoc has appointed Australia-headquartered Worley to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services, sources further said.

    West-East oil pipeline

    In May, Adnoc said it was accelerating work on the West-East crude transport pipeline project from Jebel Dhanna to Fujairah, upon directions from its board.

    The West-East pipeline project involves constructing a cross-country pipeline to transport crude from Adnoc’s export terminal at Jebel Dhanna to the Fujairah terminal, covering a distance of about 520km.

    The pipeline will double Adnoc’s crude export capacity through Fujairah on the Indian Ocean coast and enable shipments to bypass the geopolitically volatile Strait of Hormuz.

    Crude will be sourced from Adnoc’s offshore processing centres at Das, Zakum and Umm Lulu islands before being stored at new storage facilities to be built at the Jebel Dhanna terminal.

    The pipeline will be segmented into three sections:

    • Jebel Dhanna to Habshan main pumping station (MPS) – 115km
    • Habshan MPS to Sweihan depot – 254km
    • Sweihan depot to Fujairah terminal – 153km

    Adnoc awarded Egyptian contractor Engineering for Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) contract for the project in February 2024.

    Adnoc’s total spend on EPCm works could be as high as $3bn, MEED previously reported.

    Sources have told MEED that Adnoc has, in turn, appointed state-owned China Petroleum Pipeline (CPP) and locally based Bin Asheer to carry out construction works on the three segments of the West-East pipeline network.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18887774/main0639.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Contractors confirm Al-Maktoum airport people-mover award

    20 August 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    A team of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has confirmed that it has won a design-and-build contract for the automated people-mover (APM) system for phase one of Al-Maktoum International airport in Dubai.

    In a statement released earlier today, L&T classified the contract as large, a term the company uses to denote an order value of $261m-$523m.

    MEED exclusively reported in July that Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) had selected a contractor to deliver the APM system as part of the first phase of the $35bn expansion of the airport.

    The APM system will serve as a critical facility for operations at Al-Maktoum International. The system will run under the apron of the entire airfield and the airport’s terminals. It will consist of several tracks, taking passengers from the terminals to the concourses.

    Four underground stations will be built as part of the first phase. The overall plan includes 14 stations at the airport.

    The firms submitted the bids for the project in July last year, as MEED exclusively reported.

    The contract is the latest in a series of awards signed by DAEP recently. It has awarded contracts valued at about AED13bn ($3.5bn), with construction works currently under way on several airport packages.

    These include enabling works, the second runway and the initial structural foundations for passenger terminals and gates.

    Upcoming awards

    In June, DAEP said that it will award contracts worth over AED55bn ($15bn) by the end of this year for construction works at Al-Maktoum International airport.

    The projects slated for contract awards include the substructure works for the western passenger terminal, the fourth aircraft concourse building and the baggage handling system, in addition to the superstructure works for the western passenger terminal and the first, second and third aircraft concourses.

    The packages also encompass long-span structural frameworks for buildings covering about 1.5 million square metres (sq m), infrastructure works for the southern airfield area and power generation and district cooling plants supporting the construction programme.

    The award of the facade and roofing packages is also planned for this year.

    Construction progress

    In May last year, MEED exclusively reported that DAEP had awarded a AED1bn ($272m) deal to UAE firm Binladin Contracting Group to construct the second runway at the airport.

    The enabling works on the terminal were awarded to Abu Dhabi-based Tristar E&C.

    Construction on the project’s first phase is expected to be completed by 2032.

    Construction of substructure works began in November last year, when DAEP formally selected a contractor to deliver the package.

    The government approved the updated designs and timelines for its largest construction project in April 2024.

    In a statement, the authorities said the plan is for all operations from Dubai International airport to be transferred to Al-Maktoum International within 10 years.

    According to an official description on DAEP’s website, the expanded airport’s West Terminal will be a seven-level, 800,000 sq m facility with an annual capacity of 45 million passengers.

    It will be the second of three terminals at the airport.

    In September 2024, MEED exclusively reported that a team comprising Austria’s Coop Himmelb(l)au and Lebanon’s Dar Al-Handasah had been confirmed as the lead masterplanning and design consultant on the expansion of Al-Maktoum.

    The airport’s construction is planned to be undertaken in three phases. It will cover an area of 70 square kilometres south of Dubai and will have five parallel runways and 430 aircraft gates.

    It will be five times the size of the existing Dubai International airport and will have the world’s largest passenger-handling capacity of 260 million passengers a year. For cargo, it will have the capacity to handle 12 million tonnes a year.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18884056/main.png
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Saudi Arabia awards estimated $1bn phosphate rail deal

    20 August 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) has awarded an estimated SR4bn-plus ($1.1bn) contract to add another track to the first section of the existing phosphate transport railway network in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

    The contract was awarded to local firm Alomaier Trading & Contracting Company.

    The scope includes track doubling, alignment modifications, utility bridges, culvert widening and hydrological structures, as well as the conversion of the AZ1 siding into a mainline track.

    The scope also covers support for signalling and telecommunications systems.

    The existing railway line runs from the Waad Al-Shamal mines to Ras Al-Khair. The new project will cover about 100 kilometres (km), connecting the AZ1/Nariyah Yard to Ras Al-Khair.

    Switzerland-based engineering firm ARX is the project consultant.

    The project is the first of four packages for the phosphate railway line that SAR is expected to award imminently.

    In 2023, MEED reported that SAR was planning two projects to increase its freight capacity, including an estimated SR4.2bn ($1.1bn) project to install a second track on the North Train freight line and construct three new freight yards.

    Formerly known as the North-South Railway, the North Train is a 1,550km-long freight line running from the phosphate and bauxite mines in the far north of the kingdom to the Al-Baithah junction. There, it diverges into a line southward to Riyadh and a second line running east to downstream fertiliser production and alumina refining facilities at Ras Al-Khair on the Gulf coast.

    Adding a second track and the freight yards will significantly increase cargo-carrying capacity on the network and facilitate growth in industrial production. Project implementation is expected to take four years.

    State-owned SAR is also considering increasing the localisation of railway-focused materials and equipment, including the construction of a cement sleeper manufacturing facility.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18876428/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Libya and Tunisia reschedule joint oil and gas licensing round

    19 August 2026

    The Libyan-Tunisian Joint Oil Exploration, Exploitation & Petroleum Services Company (Joint Oil) has rescheduled its planned licensing round for offshore exploration and development projects in a zone spanning the waters of both countries.

    The bidding process is now due to open on 7 September 2026, with bid submissions due by 8 January 2027.

    Previously, in May, Joint Oil said it planned to open the bid round on 1 August 2026.

    The upcoming round will offer two oil and gas packages. The first is an exploration package across the 3,000-square-kilometre Joint Oil Block, in water depths of 80-120 metres.

    Significant data is available on the geology of this area, including 6,500km of 2D and 1,900 square kilometres of 3D seismic data. Data also exists from a run of legacy wells dating to 1976.

    The second package covers development of the Zarat discovery specifically. This is a gas-condensate reservoir straddling the boundary between Tunisia’s national acreage and the jointly-held Joint Oil Block.

    Joint Oil is equally owned by Tunisia’s national oil company, ETAP, and OLA Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio (LAIP).

    LAIP is a subsidiary of Libya’s sovereign wealth institution, the Libya Investment Authority.

    Joint Oil was established under a bilateral agreement between Libya and Tunisia in 1988 to explore and develop hydrocarbons in offshore areas shared by the two countries.

    The key dates from the new schedule for the licensing round are:

    • 7 September 2026: Bid round opens; qualified offshore operators can apply for access to the Virtual Data Room
    • 9 September 2026: Joint Oil presents the opportunity at the MMEA Scout Group meeting in London
    • 29-30 September 2026: Joint Oil presents at the World Energy Summit in London
    • 31 December 2026: Bid round closes
    • 8 January 2027: Bid submissions due
    • 26 February 2027: Winning bidders notified
    • 30 April 2027: Formal awards expected

    Texas-based Moyes & Co is acting as a strategic adviser on the licensing round.

    Houston-headquartered Marathon discovered the Zarat field in 1992. It is estimated to hold around 0.4 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 50 million barrels of liquids.

    A previous development project concept centred on a mobile production unit, worth around $1bn, tied back to the nearby Miskar platform.

    Despite this, the field has remained undeveloped for over three decades.

    One of the key challenges to developing the reserve is its high carbon dioxide content.

    Joint Oil has run bid rounds for the acreage before without success, including as recently as late 2023.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18861047/main0914.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • UAE cuts trade and financial links with Iran

    19 August 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    The UAE has halted all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on 19 August.

    The suspension has been imposed in light of escalations that undermine regional and international peace and security, the ministry said. It did not specify a timeframe for any resumption.

    The ministry rejected allegations regarding the status of the economic relationship between the UAE and Iran, and restated the UAE's commitment to dialogue, cooperation and regional integration as means of advancing peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

    It said the UAE remains committed to safeguarding the integrity of the financial system, in line with international law and global standards.

    The suspension covers the full range of commercial and financial links between the two countries. The UAE has historically been one of Iran's most significant trading partners, with much of the relationship built on re-export trade routed through Dubai to Iranian ports across the Gulf.

    The ministry statement did not detail the mechanism for enforcing the halt, the sectors affected, or arrangements for existing contracts and in-transit cargo.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18857953/main0856.jpg
    Colin Foreman