Middle East and North African (MENA) countries will allocate a budget for the modernization of grids and expansion of solar generation resources over the next decade, says a report by Northeast Group.
MENA countries will spend $9.8 billion for smart grid infrastructure by 2024. Smart grid will enable the incorporation of $27.9 billion in new solar resources.
By redirecting domestic energy into export market MENA countries can save around $1-3.5 billion per year.
Ben Gardner, president, Northeast Group, said, “MENA countries are adapting a two-pronged approach to address their power sector challenges. The first is the installation of 26 GW of solar capacity by 2024, led by Saudi Arabia. This will reduce their reliance on oil and gas power generation. The second is to deploy smart grid infrastructure that will help incorporate their solar power.”
“The MENA region has lots of diverse drivers and will benefit from a wide range of smart grid infrastructure. Smart metering is the leading segment, but distribution automation will be important also. Smart city initiatives around the Gulf are demonstrating advanced smart grid and renewable energy applications,” Gardner said.
Many global vendors like ABB, Alstom, Echelon, Elster, GE, Itron are active across the MENA region.