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
  • Kuwait awards $381m oil project

    23 September 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has awarded an oil project contract worth KD117m ($381m) to India’s Megha Engineering & Infrastructure (Meil).

    The Supreme Purchasing Committee for Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) approved the contract last month, paving the way for the official award.

    The project focuses on a water separation unit at the Al-Rawdatain facility in Kuwait.

    The water separation facility will be developed at Gathering Centre 25 (GC-25), along with a pumping facility at GC-30.

    The project will deliver a wide-ranging upgrade of processing and utility infrastructure, including new low-pressure separation and gas-handling equipment such as a three-phase wet separator package, a gas knock-out drum and associated low-pressure gas pipelines, as well as a high-integrity pressure protection system and a high-pressure flare.

    Meil will develop the new three-phase low-pressure wet separation facility at GC-25.

    The main process equipment will include two wet separator packages, each with a capacity of 150,000 barrels of liquid a day, and a low-pressure gas knock-out drum with a capacity of 53 million standard cubic feet a day, together with associated gas-handling facilities.

    The facility will also incorporate an effluent water treatment and transfer system, including an effluent water balance tank equipped with microbubble flotation and induced gas flotation systems, as well as transfer pumps.

    Additional GC-25 facilities will include fuel gas treatment, chemical injection, oil recovery and flare connections, along with firewater and deluge systems.

    The scope also covers control and safety systems, substations, and associated civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works.

    At GC-30, the project will focus on treated-water filtration and high-pressure injection infrastructure.

    The scope includes nutshell filters and associated feed pumps with a combined capacity of approximately 500,000 barrels of water a day.

    Booster and injection pumps will transfer treated effluent water to designated injection wells.

    Additional facilities at GC-30 will include fuel gas treatment, sludge collection and disposal systems, oil recovery systems, control and safety systems, substations, laboratory and workshop facilities, and associated civil, structural, piping, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works.

    The project also includes transfer pipelines connecting GC-25, GC-15 and GC-30.

    Meil will carry out modifications to existing tanks at GC-30, as well as process and utility tie-ins, electrical and instrumentation modifications and other infrastructure required to integrate the new facilities with KOC’s existing assets.

    Meil’s responsibilities cover the project lifecycle from design and engineering through procurement, construction, testing, pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up and performance testing.

    The contract also includes operation, maintenance, repair and insurance responsibilities for the designated facilities during the applicable operations and maintenance period.

    Seven companies submitted bids for the project last November.

    The full list of bids was:

    • Meil (India) – KD117m ($381m)
    • Mechanical Engineering & Contracting Company (Kuwait) – KD130m
    • Spetco (Kuwait) – KD158m
    • Al-Kharafi (Kuwait) – KD164m
    • China Oil HBP Science & Technology (China) – KD169m
    • Alghanim International (Kuwait) – KD169m
    • Jereh Oil & Gas Engineering (China) – KD191m

    In October last year, KOC awarded Meil a separate contract for a project to develop a gas sweetening and recovery facility in west Kuwait.

    Meil submitted the lowest bid for that tender, at KD69.2m ($225.5m), in February 2025.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19911322/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Kuwait refinery project on track for year-end completion

    23 September 2026

     

    A $65m project to replace a substation at the Mina Al-Ahmadi (MAA) refinery is on schedule to be mechanically complete before the end of the year, according to industry sources.

    The project is being executed by India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which was awarded the contract in October 2024.

    One source said: “This project is approaching completion and is currently on schedule to be completed before the end of the year, although it could still see delays related to the ongoing regional conflict.”

    The client is state-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC).

    Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy (MEW) is also involved in the project and will provide final approvals and sign-off.

    The scope of the project includes:

    • Construction of a substation
    • Installation of transformers
    • Installation of medium-voltage switchgear
    • Installation of low-voltage auxiliary systems
    • Installation of network protection systems
    • Installation of disconnecting switches
    • Installation of surge arrestors
    • Installation of feeder breakers and cubicles
    • Installation of low-voltage A/C and D/C equipment
    • Installation of battery banks and battery chargers
    • Installation of related relay and control panel boards
    • Installation of fire alarm and fire protection equipment
    • Installation of a SCADA system
    • Installation of cables
    • Civil works
    • Associated facilities

    The current project to replace a substation at the MAA refinery closely resembles another project tendered by KNPC more than a decade ago, which L&T also won.

    On 18 May 2015, KNPC signed a contract with L&T to build a new 240MW substation at the MAA refinery, valued at KD21.866m.

    The new substation, known as M20, was designed to replace an existing substation that was considered old and obsolete.

    Mohammed Al-Mutairi, who was KNPC’s chief executive at the time, said the substation building would be explosion-proof and use state-of-the-art control systems.

    He said the station’s capacity would increase from 180MW to 240MW, supplying most of the refinery’s electricity needs.

    Given the similarities between the two projects, L&T has been able to reuse some designs, creating efficiencies, according to industry sources.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19911319/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Contractor wins $208m Almoosa hospital MEP contract

    23 September 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Riyadh-based construction firm BEC Arabia has won a SR781m ($208m) contract for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works at Almoosa Hospital in Al-Khobar.

    Saudi Arabia’s Almoosa Health Company awarded the contract.

    The hospital complex consists of two towers: a 24-storey in-patient tower with 380 beds, and an 11-storey tower with 224 clinics and 113 additional treatment spaces.

    It will be built on a 45,000-square-metre site.

    A podium spanning the ninth and 10th floors will connect the two towers.

    The hospital will also include parking for 1,700 cars.

    BEC Arabia won the SR656m ($175m) main construction contract for the hospital in November last year.

    In August 2025, MEED reported that Almoosa Health Company had announced it had secured a sharia-compliant credit facility worth SR650m ($173m) from Banque Saudi Fransi.

    In a statement published on the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul), the company said the seven-year facility would be used to support its expansion and growth strategy.

    Lebanon’s Dar, US-based Perkins&Will and French design firm Pierre-Yves Rochon designed the project.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19910889/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • UAE to develop integrated waste-to-resource pilot

    23 September 2026

    Emirates Biotech and United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) have launched a pilot project in Al-Ain that could provide a model for larger waste-to-resource facilities.

    The project involves developing the UAE’s first integrated organic-waste valorisation pilot plant, which will test whether food waste and compostable packaging can be processed together to recover resources and reduce waste sent to landfill.

    Located near the UAEU campus, the 40kg-a-day facility will process organic waste to produce renewable biogas and nutrient-rich compost. The project is intended to generate technical and operating data that could support the development of larger-scale facilities.

    Emirates Biotech and UAEU will design, build and operate the pilot plant as part of a two-year research project running from August 2026 to August 2028. Installation and commissioning are expected to be completed by August 2027.

    The plant will combine anaerobic digestion and composting. Anaerobic digestion will convert the organic waste into renewable biogas, while the resulting digestate will be composted to produce nutrient-rich compost.

    A laboratory-scale assessment will also examine the potential to convert the biogas into renewable hydrogen.

    Food waste accounts for nearly 40% of daily municipal solid waste in the UAE, according to Emirates Biotech, and much of it is currently disposed of in landfills.

    The pilot will therefore assess the technical and operational feasibility of recovering value from two waste streams through a single integrated process.

    If successfully scaled, Emirates Biotech says an integrated organic-waste valorisation plant could reduce CO₂ emissions by 89% compared with landfilling.

    The project is expected to provide a scalable and modular model for converting food waste and compostable packaging into renewable biogas and compost, with the findings intended to inform the development of larger waste-to-resource facilities.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19908972/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Contractors prepare Oxagon Highway 55 bids

    23 September 2026

     

    Contractors are preparing to submit bids on 28 September for a design-and-build contract for permanent upgrade works on Highway 55 in the kingdom’s Oxagon region.

    The first phase of the project includes constructing 14 kilometres of road, with two lanes in each direction. It also includes one bridge and three interchanges.

    The project duration is 22 months.

    Highway 55 connects the Red Sea coast with the mainland in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is currently the only road providing north-south connectivity between Duba and the Neom region.

    MEED reported exclusively in August 2025 that contractors had submitted responses to an expression of interest notice that Neom had issued earlier that month.

    The project is expected to support cargo movement from Duba Port to other parts of the kingdom and the wider region.

    Last year, Neom tested a pilot initiative by handling a shipment that travelled from Cairo via the Port of Safaga, across the Red Sea to the Port of Neom, and then inland to Erbil, Iraq.

    In a statement, Neom said: “The shipment travelled through an intermodal corridor spanning over 900 kilometres, marking a significant milestone in the kingdom’s transformation into a regional and global logistics hub.”

    The Port of Neom is located on the Red Sea near the Arar border, a key entry point into Iraq.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19907876/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal