The Status of Renewable Energy in The Arab Peninsula

The Status of Renewable Energy in The Arab Peninsula

Along with the rising demand of sustainable energy and declining cost of solar equipment, Qatar is one of the many countries in the Arab Peninsula gaining momentum for renewable energy development. Backed up by strong support from the government, specifically the Ministry of Energy and Industry, multilateral development banks, and certain agencies, the country is now diversifying its source of power generation.

The Arab Petroleum Investment Corp or API estimates that in the next five years, as much as 34% would invest to MENA’s renewable energy sector. To support this move, Arab countries including Qatar has introduced several actions such as competitive bidding, tax exemptions, power purchase agreements, financial incentives, and feed in tariffs to augment the development of renewable energy.

But what is renewable energy and why developing countries are so into it?

Renewable Energy
Unlike the old traditional sources of energy such as fossil fuel, coal, gas and oil, renewable energy sources are more sustainable in the long run. They will never run out which makes it perfect for long term energy solution. Furthermore, creating electricity out of renewable energy sources will never harm our environment decreasing issues with global warming and instability of grids.

Sources of renewable energy may include the following but not limited to:

– Wind using its motion to generate power.
– Solar which is the most common especially to households in Qatar.
– Hydropower which uses the energy from moving water.
– Biomass that uses organic matter to produce electricity.
– Geothermal that uses natural heat deep within the ground.

Benefits of Renewable Energy
Qatar is a power hungry country, according to World Data it consumes 37.24 billion kWh of electricity per year. Although it can provide electricity on its own, going green is still more advantageous.

Renewable energy will never run out – Since renewable energy uses all natural sources to produce power, it will never run out – there would always be sunshine, wind, tides, and biomass. Also, compare to fossil fuel which is becomingly difficult and expensive to obtain, renewable energy is without a doubt more cost-efficient.

It doesn’t need too much maintenance – Have you seen a solar panel in a residential or commercial building in Qatar? You would probably notice that there are few moving parts and the operation doesn’t rely on flammable sources. This is the beauty of renewable energy; it requires little to no maintenance at all compare to traditional fuel sources.

They don’t harm our environment – Sustainable energy wouldn’t be called green energy for nothing, this is due to the fact that it doesn’t damage our planet. Renewable energy is clean energy, it doesn’t produce pollutants and there are minimal to no waste product at all which is great since it helps reduce global warming.

It improves public health – Nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide – these toxic substances that can harm our health are all released by fossil fuel when producing power. Yet with renewable energy, air is not polluted and as we know, cleaner air can help save lives.

If you are an investor trying to build a renewable energy-based business, there are local business consultancy companies in Qatar that can help you from company formation to registration.