China’s Green Energy Wave enters the Middle East

Oct 22, 2024

China’s Green Energy Wave enters the Middle East, facing rising trade barriers and diplomatic tensions with the US and the EU. Its renewable energy companies are smoothly marketing the region as an alternative market for goods, including electric vehicles (EVs), lithium-ion batteries, and solar panels. A good question is who wants to dominate the world’s green energy markets?Image above – “Xi of Arabia,”

China’s Green Energy Wave enters the Middle East

Neil Thompson

18 October 2024

London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Facing rising trade barriers and diplomatic tensions with the US and the EU, Chinese renewable energy companies are turning to Middle Eastern states as an alternative market for goods including electric vehicles (EVs), lithium-ion batteries, and solar panels. The US, the EU and Canada have all imposed tariffs on Chinese EVs, amid accusations that Beijing is dumping excess Chinese production overseas and using unfair subsidies. “Global markets are now flooded with cheaper [Chinese] electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in September last year.

The EU has begun a probe into Chinese wind turbine companies. Then-Commission Executive Vice-President for Competition Margarethe Vestager warned that a wave of subsidised Chinese wind turbine exports: “is not only dangerous for our competitiveness. It also jeopardises our economic security.” The EU remains scarred by its loss of a trade war to China over the bloc’s solar power industry a decade earlier. Western governments and activists have also expressed concerns that China’s green sector is tied to human rights abuses like forced labour in Xinjiang.

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In the Middle East, however, many governments remain open to Chinese green sector exports and have struck commercial agreements to gain investment from its major firms. In July, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund struck joint investment deals with Chinese solar power companies Jinko Solar and TCL Zhonghuan. Meanwhile, Saudi investment business ALGIHAZ signed a contract to build an energy storage facility with Chinese company Sungrow. The Australian Griffith Asia Institute calculated that altogether Chinese firms worked on green energy projects across the Middle East worth about $9.5 billion over 2018-2023.

Middle Eastern States Piggyback Off China

China’s government and Chinese state-owned or state-linked companies have been able to offer commercial and political advantages to Middle Eastern governments seeking to decarbonize their economies. Western engineering and manufacturing firms’ projects are regulated by numerous rules intended to prevent corruption, environmental harm and other negative development outcomes. Chinese companies under the direction of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) face no such restraints, though the quality of the infrastructure they have produced under China’s signature Belt & Road Project (BRI) initiative has varied. For autocratic Middle Eastern governments like the Gulf monarchies, however, Chinese companies have the ability to build high-technology critical infrastructure without the need to appease external stakeholders like the human rights groups or independent media outlets found in Western countries.

Chinese companies are also generally happy to operate in a Middle Eastern business environment that still often relies on patronage to get deals done. The CCP has cultivated particularly close ties with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, Egypt, and Algeria, with whose governments Beijing has signed comprehensive strategic partnerships (the most elevated type of bilateral agreement with China). These relationships have borne increasing fruit as the BRI has matured and new technology has widened the appeal of clean energy and other green industries. Petrostates like Saudi Arabia have belatedly woken up to the threat of climate change and their own potential ability to take advantage of clean energy like solar power.

Doing Deals to Decarbonize

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Beijing in June. Xi promised his government would cooperate more closely with the Arab country on a range of industries including “information technology, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and new energy.” China was already the UAE’s biggest trading partner in 2022 while the Arab state was Beijing’s biggest Arab trading partner, the UAE’s economy ministry said in 2023. While renewable energy development is only one aspect of the burgeoning diplomatic and trading relationship between the two sides, it is an important consideration for the UAE and its Net Zero 2050 strategy to decarbonize the country’s economy. Given China’s private sector is subordinate to the political aims of the ruling CCP, further Chinese green investment is likely to flow to the UAE in 2025. The UAE is also investing in renewables in East Asia, with its green energy firm Masdar aiming to install 2 gigawatts of renewable power in ASEAN countries by 2025. The firm was invited by the Philippines government to invest in Manila’s green sector too.

In May, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, said “new energy” and “critical minerals” were among the areas the country was interested in engaging with Beijing. Chinese CEOs held meetings with UAE officials in July following the UAE president’s state visit to discuss bilateral cooperation in various areas, including solar power and renewable energy. The UAE’s example is being replicated by other Middle Eastern governments with whom China has cultivated close relations. At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September, Egypt signed agreements worth more than $1.1 billion with Chinese companies, which included the country’s first green chemical plant. China’s Befar Group will build a $500 million facility powered energy sources including natural gas, wind and solar energy. A second deal involves the creation of a $100 million solar panel factory. Chinese companies are building solar power plants in Algeria and becoming investors and co-investors in Saudi and UAE solar and wind projects as these two countries decarbonise their power grids.

China Seeks to Refute Dumping Narratives

Meanwhile, Middle Eastern demand for Chinese clean energy infrastructure and products allows Beijing to claim it is not engaged in overproduction in sectors like EV manufacturing or renewable energy products and dumping the resulting excess on foreign markets. Much criticism of Chinese trade practices in the country’s green industries has come from the US and other Western governments. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in April that excess Chinese manufacturing capacity in sectors like EVs and solar panels was intensifying. Chinese state media and CEOs like the head of vehicle manufacturer Great Wall Motor International have denied this, although non-Western countries like Turkey have also imposed tariffs on Chinese exports like EVs. China has taken Turkey to the World Trade Organization in response.

Trade tensions between China and governments under pressure to restrict Chinese green technology exports are likely to endure in many parts of the world. In the Middle East, however, Beijing and local regimes continue to discover synergies between their development needs. China’s sluggish economy and growing trade tensions with the Global North have left it in need of new markets for its goods. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern governments need the country’s know-how and deep pockets if they are to overhaul their own 20^th-century fossil fuel infrastructure and create new jobs in the emerging green economies of the 21^st century.

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About the Author

Neil Thompson is a freelance writer who has lived and travelled extensively through East Asia and the Middle East. He holds an MA in the International Relations of East Asia from Durham University, and is now based in the UK.

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Turkey aims to boost renewable energy share in electricity production

Oct 21, 2024

Like most countries, Turkey aims to boost its share of renewable energy in electricity production. MENA is pondering its energy options whilst Balancing the grid with solar growth in a fossil-fuel world.

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Turkey aims to boost renewable energy share in electricity production

By Newsroom Odisha Network

21 October 2024

Ankara: Turkey is aiming to further boost the share of renewable energy in its electricity production to 47.8 per cent by 2025, according to a report by the semi-official Anadolu Agency, citing the 2025 budget proposal of the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry.

The proposal outlines plans to increase the contribution of solar power plants (SPP), wind power plants (WPP), geothermal power plants (GPP), and hydroelectric power plants (HPP) in the energy mix, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to data from the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation, Turkey currently has an installed capacity of 32,195 MW from HPP, 12,369 MW from WPP, 18,756 MW from SPP, and 1,691 MW from GPP.

By 2025, the country reportedly aims to expand this capacity to 32,395 MW for HPP, 14,800 MW for WPP, 22,600 MW for SPP, and 4,487 MW for GPP.

The share of renewable energy in electricity production, which was 42.7 per cent in 2023, is expected to reach 45 per cent by the end of 2024 and 47.8 per cent in 2025, Anadolu said.

According to the budget proposal, the country is also aiming to increase the share of domestic resources in electricity production to 58.9 per cent by the end of this year and 59.4 per cent by 2025 while reducing natural gas’s share to 20.7 per cent by the end of 2024 and 18.9 per cent by 2025. In 2023, natural gas accounted for 21.4 per cent of electricity production.

To facilitate these objectives, the ministry is expected to receive a budget of 45.3 billion lire ($1.33 billion) for the year 2025.

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World fails first review of COP renewable energy goal

Oct 15, 2024

The World fails the first review of COP Renewable Energy Goal. It is the stark warning the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) delivered Friday at the final ministerial meeting ahead of next month’s summit in Azerbaijan, known as COP29.

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Image: Financing for climate action is set to be the focus at next month’s COP29 conference. | Tofik Babayev/AFP via Getty Images

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World fails first review of COP renewable energy goal

A dramatic spending surge is needed to course correct, the International Renewable Energy Agency warned.

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Politico article by Zia Weise

14 October 2024

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BRUSSELS — Reaching the landmark renewable energy targets agreed at last year’s global climate summit will remain a distant dream unless the world invests more than $30 trillion over the next six years.

That’s the stark warning the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) delivered Friday at the final ministerial meeting ahead of next month’s United Nations climate summit in Azerbaijan, known as COP29, where financing for climate action will take center stage.

At last year’s COP28 conference in Dubai, countries pledged to collectively triple the world’s renewable energy capacity and double energy-saving efforts by 2030. The commitments were hailed as key to limiting global warming in line with the Paris Agreement.

Stronger policies, easier permitting and modernizing power grids are crucial to making up for the shortfall — as is a dramatic surge in investment, according to IRENA.

Investment in renewables reached a record high of $570 billion last year, but what’s needed is $1.5 trillion a year, IRENA says. And spending on energy-saving measures must increase seven-fold to reach the doubling target, from $323 million last year to $2.2 trillion annually.

In total, reaching the twin COP28 targets requires a cumulative global investment of $31.5 trillion in renewables, grids, energy efficiency and related measures by 2030, according to IRENA.

The findings are likely to bolster developing countries’ push for a massive increase in financial support. IRENA’s assessment comes just one month before the start of COP29, where countries are meant to agree on a new collective financial target to fund climate action — crucially, switching from fossil fuels to renewables — in developing countries.

Some proposals to replace the current target of $100 billion a year reach up to $1.3 trillion. But developed countries and the European Union argue that any significant increase in public finance requires emerging economies like China to start chipping in, and that the majority of investments must come from the private sector, not national budgets.

The vast majority of investment in renewables last year — 84 percent — was channeled into the EU, China and the United States. India and Brazil accounted for around 6 percent; investments in Africa are minuscule and actually halved between 2022 and 2023.

IRENA’s progress assessment finds the world falling short on almost every measure, aside from solar power.

To reach the COP28 tripling target, installed renewables capacity would have to increase from 3.9 terawatts (TW) today to 11.2 TW by the end of the decade, the agency says. But current national targets are projected to add only another 3.5 TW to reach 7.4 TW by 2030.

Countries’ plans submitted to the U.N. under the Paris Agreement — known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs — suggest even weaker growth, reaching only 5.4 TW by 2030. Governments are required to submit updated NDCs next year; IRENA says that the new set of plans must “more than double” their renewables targets.

Solar is the only renewable technology growing at the required level. Onshore wind needs to triple, while offshore wind and bioenergy should increase six-fold. Geothermal capacity ought to grow 35 times faster than it did last year to meet its projected share.

On energy efficiency, “little meaningful progress has been made” over the past year, IRENA says. Some key measures to save energy include renovating old buildings and boosting electrification, as electric vehicles and heat pumps consume less energy than their fossil fuel counterparts.

Yet while EV sales reached a record 18 percent of total global car sales last year, the picture is dire for heat pumps, the agency warns: After a brief surge in 2022, their sales fell by 3 percent in 2023, with a particularly notable decline in Europe.

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Modular renewables can reduce the costs of relying on carbon capture

Oct 11, 2024

Modular renewables can reduce the costs of relying on carbon capture. How can this be done? Here is Dr Daniel Quiggin’s explanation. Also, according to Wood Mackenzie analysis, the impact of the delayed energy transition would result in the ‘World heading for 3°C trajectory’.

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How modular renewables can reduce the costs of relying on carbon capture

COP29 must raise countries’ ambitions to deploy vastly more low-cost modular renewable technologies to help meet the tripling of renewables target set at COP28 and reduce our reliance on expensive carbon capture systems.

CHATHAM HOUSE Published ON 11 October 2024

Dr Daniel Quiggin

Senior Research Fellow, Environment and Society Centre

The most important international climate conference is around the corner. COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan will be especially important because next year countries will submit their five-yearly national climate plans – or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – as set out under the Paris Agreement.

At COP28 in Dubai last year, the final text was heralded as a last-minute success as – somewhat surprisingly – it was the first ever COP to commit to ‘transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner’. To support this, over 200 countries also committed to triple renewable capacity by 2030.

Under current NDCs, even if all countries achieve their most ambitious decarbonization plans, the world would still fall 30 per cent short of tripling renewable capacity by 2030.

At COP29 in November, hosted by a petrostate, additional agreement is needed to operationalize the removal of fossil fuels from the global energy system and set the ambition for those crucial NDCs in 2025. Failing to do so means the opportunity to triple renewables by 2030 will slip away. But the actions of oil producing nations, international oil companies, their associated supply chains and networks of lobbyists have in recent years done their best to disrupt and slow down the energy transition and water down key negotiations during COPs and elsewhere.

During the final days of COP28, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sent private letters to its 13 members – including COP28 host the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – urging them to ‘proactively reject any text or formula that targets energy, ie fossil fuels, rather than emissions’. OPEC members own 80 per cent of global oil reserves.

Due to the startling decline in the cost of renewables and electric vehicles, fossil fuel producers are increasingly concerned. To fight back they are turning to carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and carbon removal options, which would enable the continued burning of fossil fuels – and protect their assets and business models.

A key battle ground for oil and gas producers is the difference between abated and unabated fossil fuels.

Abatement is the process of capturing CO₂ as fossil fuels are burnt to prevent a proportion of those CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere, either by using that CO₂ in products or storing it in geological formations deep underground in near perpetuity, commonly referred to as CCS.

After COP28 there was optimism that the final agreement was significant and covered all fossil fuels without ambiguity around whether they are unabated or abated.

But the definition of unabated has not actually been agreed within the COP process. During the 2021 COP26 summit, the Glasgow Climate Pact mentioned unabated in reference to coal. Could a gas power station capturing 51 per cent of the emitted CO₂ be considered abated?

And what about the so-called downstream emissions? Downstream emissions from cars, planes, tanker ships and diesel generators etc make up 50–80 per cent of the total emissions from oil – and there are no plans to attach mini-CCS systems to cars.

CCS and engineered carbon removals are also likely to be expensive. Analysis by the Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has shown that high CCS pathways to net zero emissions in 2050 would cost at least $30 trillion more than a low CCS pathway with more renewables – roughly $1 trillion more per year.

The rapid cost reductions of solar, wind and batteries are due to their modular nature.

The costs of CCS have also remained the same for the past 40 years, while the costs of renewables like solar, wind and lithium-ion batteries have dropped radically. Solar costs have declined by 90 per cent in the last decade.

The rapid cost reductions of solar, wind and batteries are due to their modular nature. Around 70 billion solar cells will be manufactured this year, the majority in China. It is the repetitive modular manufacturing process that has led to rapid efficiency improvements and cost reductions. Each Tesla has around 7,000 lithium-ion battery cells, and the price of these modular batteries fell 14 per cent between 2022 and 2023 alone.

The modular criteria can help define the technology winners of the future, technologies we should selectively support and accelerate over the coming years.

While huge industrial power stations, oil rigs and refineries have their benefits, they are not modular in the same way. Their economy of scale is in the large size of each asset. CCS is bolted on to fossil fuel infrastructure but there are less than 50,000 fossil fuel producing assets globally. By contrast, there were 1.5 billion solar panels produced in 2022. The cost of deploying CCS is therefore unlikely to benefit from the rapid cost reductions of modular renewables. Nuclear even less so. There are 440 nuclear power stations in operation today, they take many years to build and remain hugely expensive.

In the context of high debt-to-GDP levels across many countries and military spending on the rise in a conflict-focused world, the risk is that the costs of CCS and engineered carbon removals increasingly become incommensurate with today’s focus on energy security and affordability.

To have any chance of avoiding climate change catastrophe, we have to prioritize the quickest way to mitigate the largest emissions.

Modular renewable technologies can be deployed faster to reduce our reliance on expensive CCS and carbon removal technologies. There are also other modular renewable technologies, such as heat pumps and electrolysers, that are already starting to disrupt parts of the energy system but require additional government help to speed their modular journey along.

To have any chance of avoiding climate change catastrophe, we have to prioritize the quickest way to mitigate the largest emissions. At COP29, a priority must be to increase the ambition of countries to accelerate low-cost modular renewables within their 2025 NDCs. This will not only help meet the COP28 target of tripling renewables by 2030 but will also help reduce the future costs of relying on expensive CCS and carbon removal technologies.

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Egypt’s Blue Tricycle Was Transformed Into a Community Care Car

Oct 2, 2024

Cairo Scene’s article, which is highly relevant to the local and prevailing atmosphere, deals with how Egypt’s blue tricycle became a community care car. For some time, the alternative transport market in Egypt has been the nest for many improvements that are not like this one. Let us see how.

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How Egypt’s Blue Tricycle Was Transformed Into a Community Care Car

Egyptian architects from CLUSTER—Cairo Lab for Urban Studies—designed & built a Community Care Vehicle for Ard El Lewa.

By Rana Gabr

On Sep 30, 2024

How Egypt’s Blue Tricycle Was Transformed Into a Community Care Car

In the heart of Ard El Lewa, one of Cairo’s densely populated, deemed “informal” areas, an intriguing initiative has emerged: a tricycle transformed into a mini ambulance. This innovative contraption was created by a group of Egyptian architects from CLUSTER—Cairo Lab for Urban Studies—dedicated to finding alternative ways to engage with our cities.

“Our practice doesn’t follow traditional architectural design. We take pride in being designers who prioritise creativity and socially responsible ideas.” architect and urban planner Omar Nagati, Principal and co-founder of CLUSTER told CairoScene.

Transcending the perceived conventional role of architects, CLUSTER has nurtured its path to improve the quality of our cities’ built environment by making urban spaces more inclusive and just. Founded by the Egyptian architect and urban planner Omar Nagati in 2011, they’ve adopted a clear methodology of action research and in-depth mapping to enable themselves to propose ideas and generate alternative unorthodox modes of urban development.

If you want to actively engage in the city you need to find a place for yourself within the ecosystem, open doors for ideas” architect and urban planner Omar Nagati, Principal and co-founder of CLUSTER told CairoScene.

In a path where design and creativity converge, the CLUSTER team headed by architects Omar Khaled and Hanaa Gad collaborated with AP+E Netherlands-based architectural office and the Dutch Studio René Boer under the support of Creative Industries Fund to bring their latest project: Community Care Vehicle to being.

“This project builds on our long-term interest and concern with regards to what we call ‘self-built’ environment or ‘informal’ areas, promoting a sustainable urban environment and a more diverse and accessible public space.” Omar Nagati explained.

Taking notice of the tricycle as an omnipresent vehicle or transportation mode, these iconic blue vehicles, now seen on every corner of our Cairene street and all over Egypt, have diversified in their uses due to their compact size, allowing them to easily navigate our narrow streets. Already employed for transportation, trash collection, and merchandise transport, the question becomes why not readapt them for more critical urgent needs or missing services.

This seemingly minor observation sparked the driving force behind CLUSTER’s initiative. After thorough research, and analysis of both the site and the tricycleycle’s tricycle’s various adaptations, a clear vision emerged with two potential options: either an emergency fire vehicle or a Community Care Vehicle.

The support of volunteer students from the German University in Cairo and a student from Cambridge University, added another facet of civic engagement to the initiative.

The team opted to craft a life-size wooden model of the design, using their local creative and maker space lab ALFABRIKA in Ard El Lewa, while keeping the final choice of vehicle use open for now. This action was further enriched by an extra facet of civic engagement, with the support of volunteering students from the German University in Cairo and a student from Cambridge University.

ALFABRIKA Creative Lab was established in 2019 with the aim of facilitating an exchange of knowledge between formally trained design/art students with local craftspeople/manufacturers as an extension of CLUSTER’s interests in creative industries.

Using their signature communal engagement and participatory approach, CLUSTER organised a meeting with the local community of Ard El Lewa. From community leaders to curious children and families, everyone joined forces to explore the dynamic model. Together, they debated: would their needs call for a ‘mini-ambulance’ or an emergency fire vehicle?

Ultimately, the voices of the community determined the choice of the Community Care Vehicle, aka “Rescue on Wheels”, mainly for its versatility. “Rescue on Wheels” will not only transport the sick or unwell; it is designed to carry individuals in wheelchairs and serve as a vital tool for spreading awareness about health issues and supporting vaccination campaigns.

According to CLUSTER, this is a new venture where their creative interdisciplinary approach has taken them into unfamiliar uncharted ‘more auto mechanical’ territories. Employing all sorts of available local knowledge to build this moving machine, is one of the key aspects and challenges of this project.

“The local market holds all the knowledge; we just need to piece it together. Everyone contributed their part, and while some were sceptical, they pushed through anyway. Sometimes, you have to push the boundaries a bit to achieve what truly matters.”

The team sought technical expertise from various fields to meet ambulance standards. They needed to accommodate a stretcher, two seats for a paramedic and companion, and two oxygen tubes, which required expanding the tricycle and shifting its centre of gravity. They consulted automotive engineering professors from Ain Shams University and collaborated with Al-Tahan, a company that typically manufactures fridge cabinets, to create an insulated cabinet for the vehicle, which now adds an “ambulance” cabinet to their portfolio.

All the internal furniture was cleverly designed to fold away, making room for various uses. The entire cabinet was elevated to house a sliding ramp underneath, allowing a wheelchair to roll smoothly inside. To ensure safety, extra metal studs were added to the ramp—an idea inspired by local, hands-on solutions—to prevent any accidental rollbacks onto the street.

“Rescue on Wheels” showcases a striking white and red visual identity that subtly reflects its site and function. With an overarching theme of three—drawing inspiration from the tricycle’s three wheels—it features three circular windows on each side, reminiscent of traditional architectural styles. When opened, these windows subtly resemble a crescent, evocative of the Egyptian red crescent.

“The design was not an afterthought; it was crafted to establish a visual identity that resonates deeply, offering a true sense of pride and dignity to the community of Ard El Lewa.” Omar Khaled, CLUSTER team lead designer explained.

The cabinet ventilation system primarily relies on eight windows and a hood installed at the back of the driver. While this is sufficient for the current ‘Beta Version,’ an AC system may be considered in the future. For now, it was intentionally avoided, along with any electrical appliances, to prevent interference with the tricycle’s motor.

At the moment, “Rescue on Wheels” has only been launched locally in Ard El Lewa and is navigating its way through the complex web of city regulations. Set to be showcased at the upcoming World Urban Forum from November 4th to 8th, 2024, this project highlights the true potential of architecture when it collaborates with society, fostering live dialogue, research, and the integration of diverse possibilities.

Photography Credit: CLUSTER

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