Energy Sector Research Highlights

Energy in Emerging Markets

Santiago Bañales, Managing Director, Iberdrola Innovation Middle East

On how improvements in storage and the integration of renewable power contribute to grid stability

Capacity expansion supports Djibouti’s efforts to realise its green power potential

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Efforts in Djibouti to increase energy capacity and accelerate the shift from hydrocarbons to renewables moved forwards in September 2023 with the inauguration of the Ghoubet wind farm.

Ahmed Al Shamsi, Managing Director and CEO, Abu Dhabi Sustainable Water Solutions Company (SWS)

On innovative approaches in water conservation and reuse

Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Executive Director, Low Carbon Solutions & International Growth, ADNOC

On Abu Dhabi’s carbon capture efforts and the role of hydrogen in the energy mix

How emerging markets are navigating the rising cost of solar power

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With high energy prices and supply chain disruptions creating shortages of key renewable energy components and materials, emerging markets are reassessing how to build out utility-scale solar power to accelerate their energy transitions. After more than a decade of decline, the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels has risen around the world, due primarily to the increasing cost of solar-grade polysilicon in China. A key component in PV panels, polysilicon spot market prices rose from less than $7 per kg in July 2020 to $39 in August...

Saltwater batteries and the emerging blue energy economy

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As emerging markets seek to accelerate their energy transitions by increasing solar and wind power capacity, recent technological advancements that harness the sodium from saltwater could provide a crucial breakthrough in battery storage. In recent months start-ups and researchers have debuted saltwater battery technologies that promise cheaper capacity to store variable solar and wind power at scale, a development that could help to reduce global dependence on lithium. In January US-based tech start-up Salgenx...

How tech can unlock geothermal energy in emerging markets

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As countries around the world look to increase baseload power generation, reduce energy imports and decarbonise their economies, emerging markets are boosting geothermal power generation with the help of new technologies and expertise. A new drilling technology developed by Quaise Energy, a US geothermal start-up spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that uses gyrotron-powered millimetre waves to vaporize rock, could allow for producers to drill as far down as 20 km compared to the average drilling...

African gas suppliers look to meet Europe’s future LNG demand

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As the EU works to rebalance its gas supply away from Russia, African countries are expected to gain a larger share of the bloc’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) market in the coming years. Last month the EU announced that it would launch the first tenders for joint gas purchases in April, with contracts expected to be signed by June. This novel approach seeks to leverage the bloc’s purchasing power to secure supplies at lower prices ahead of the summer when EU countries are expected to refill their underground gas storage...