Yemen’s solar generation is getting a boost courtesy of Masdar.

Good morning, friends, and welcome to the first work week of 2023. We have a packed issue with all regional updates from the past 10 days, so let’s jump right in.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund QIA has landed their first green loan worth USD 5 bn to put towards green investments, and Yemen has secured an agreement with UAE’s Masdar to build its largest solar project to date. In another first, Egypt has inaugurated its first trigeneration waste-to-energy facility.

^^ We have chapter and verse on this story and more in the news well, below.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- There’s no single story dominating international climate coverage today, but outlets picked up several developments likely to have a bearing on the year ahead. Some 43% of German companies recently surveyed by the German-African Business Association plan to up their investment in Africa this year, with green hydrogen being an area of particular interest, according to a Reuters poll. Further afield,the Biden administration's USD 369 bn Inflation Reduction Act could push European companies to increase their trade links with China, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis tells the Financial Times.

PSA- Eco-friendly and sustainable projects are eligible for credit lines from Egypt’s Contact Financial Holding, which launched a sustainable financing program to offer credit lines for businesses looking to utilize renewable energy sources and incorporate emission reduction strategies, according to a statement. The non-banking financial services outfit’s Green Finance product will provide financing for projects including solar panels, irrigation systems, and greenhouses. The loans come with monthly and quarterly repayment plans up to five years without a down payment requirement.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- KSA’s SNB Capital launches sustainability-focused fund: Saudi Arabia-based asset manager SNB Capital raised SAR 1.7 mn from the initial public offering of its Global Megatrends Fund, according to a statement. The offering closed on 18 December, with the fund kicking off operations the following day. The fund will facilitate investments focused on sectors including electric vehicles and renewable energy projects for retail and institutional investors.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Oman inks hydrogen-focused agreements with the IEA: Paris-based International Energy Agency will support Oman’s hydrogen production strategy for 2050 through three projects, Ad-Dustour reported. One project will focus on transitioning oil-intensive industries in the country to clean energy sources, another project will address upgrading the Sultanate’s pre-existing natural gas infrastructure to turbocharge green hydrogen production, and the final project will develop a simulation system to help calculate the capital required for Oman’s hydrogen production targets through to 2050 in relation to the country’s GDP figures. No timelines or financial details for the projects were disclosed.

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THE DANGER ZONE- Iraq needs mns to combat desertification: Iraq is seeking to raise international aid to the tune of USD 100 mn to launch reforestation efforts and bolster food security, according to an Environment Ministry statement picked up by Sada El Balad. Nearly 70% of the country’s land mass is under threat of climate-induced desertification. Iraq will need some USD 233 bn additional investment by 2040 to pursue its green growth path, we wrote last month citing a World Bank report. The country must diversify its oil-reliant economy in the face of climate change-driven challenges including water shortages and pollution.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR- Saudi Arabia will host The Future Minerals Forum from Tuesday, 10 January to Thursday, 12 January at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh. The event will gather 200 industry leaders and over 50 ministers to discuss attracting investments to the mining industry and decarbonizing mining projects globally. You can register for the event here.

UAE renewable energy firm Masdar will host Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week from Saturday, 14 January to Saturday, 21 January. The event will gather eight presidents and prime ministers and 30k participants in a series of conferences and summits including the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum, the World Future Energy Summit, Masdar’s Green Hydrogen Summit, The International Renewable Energy Agency’s Youth Forum, and the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum.

The UAE is hosting the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum on Saturday, 14 January and Sunday, 15 January in Abu Dhabi. The forum will discuss the ongoing global energy crisis and its impact on the green transition, energy security, and decarbonization.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

QIA secures first green loan worth USD 5 bn: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) raised some USD 5 bn from global debt markets in December to finance green investments, Al Arabiya reported last week, citing unnamed sources. The funds were raised by QIA subsidiary the Qatar Holding Company as part of a five-year loan due to be repaid in mid-December 2027, the sources added. The total amount of the loan wasn’t disclosed, nor is it clear whether it will all be channeled into green investments by the QIA.

Where is the money coming from? 12 banks are said to have participated in the loan including HSBC, JP Morgan, Agricultural Bank of China, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Bank of China, Bank of America, Credit Agricole, US Citigroup, and one unnamed bank.

Advisers: White and Case provided counsel to the Qatar Holding Company and Linklaters advised the banks responsible for the loan, Al Arabiya notes, citing a document it has seen.

IN OTHER CLIMATE FINANCE NEWS- Germany will provide Tunisia with a EUR 105 mn technical cooperation grant to combat climate change and encourage the use of renewable energy among other development efforts, Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

And there’s more on the way: German state lender KfW also signed a number of agreements with Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry to finance nine projects in the renewable energy, water, and rural development sectors of the North African country worth EUR 300 mn, the statement notes.

Yemen will get its largest solar plant, courtesy of Masdar: UAE-based renewables company Masdar signed an agreement with Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) for the development of a 120 MW solar project in Aden, according to a statement. Both parties will work on the construction of transmission networks and transformer stations, the statement notes. The financials of the agreement were not disclosed.

Yemenis are in need of stable electricity: Some 90% of the Yemeni population lacks access to publicly sourced electricity, according to recent ReliefWeb statistics. More than 50% of the country’s population source their power needs from micro solar energy installations, according to World Bank figures.

ELSEWHERE IN THE REGION- Tunisia secures loan packages for first solar project: The Africa Development Bank Group’s board of directors approved a EUR 10 mn loan and a USD 27 mn loan for Tunisia’s 100 MW solar independent power producer plant in Kairouan, according to an statement. The USD 27 mn loan includes USD 17 mn worth of concessional financing from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, a special multi-donor fund managed by the bank.

Egypt brings online its first trigeneration waste-to-energy facility: Egypt-based energy industry contractor Korra Energi inaugurated a waste-to-energy plant to repurpose the waste generated by Korra’s power plant and its flare gas projects in the Abu Rawash industrial complex to generate power, according to a statement release last week. The financials of the trigeneration project were not disclosed, but Korra Energi will own and operate the plant under a 10-year build-own-operate-transfer agreement, Zawya reports.

The details: The trigeneration facility will generate 27 MWh of electricity, 430 tons per hour of refrigerated water for industrial cooling, as well as 16 tons of steam on an hourly basis, offsetting some 40k tons of CO2 emissions per year and reduce fuel consumption by 25%, according to the statement.

Not Korra’s first waste-to-energy project in the country: The company launched its first waste to energy plant in Egypt’s 6th of October governorate in 2009. The facility repurposes 32k tons of waste to generate some 300 mn tons of refrigeration for industrial cooling offsetting 80k tons of CO2 emissions, according to a statement.

Abu Rawash has another waste-to-energy project in the pipeline: Renergy Group Partners — a joint venture between Egypt’s National Organization of Military Production and Green Tech Egypt — is also planning a waste-to-energy project in Abu Rawash which is expected to convert some 1.2k tons of municipal solid waste per day to 30 MWh of electricity.

Waste-to-energy is picking up in the region: Bee’ah Recycling — a subsidiary of Emirati waste management company Bee’ah — added a new solid recovered fuel processing facility to its integrated waste management complex in Sharjah, producing some 85k tons of green fuel annually. Bee’ah also signed an MoU with US- and UK-based waste-to-energy focused tech company Chinook Sciences and Japanese gas conglomerate Air Water to form a consortium aimed at setting up a waste-to-hydrogen plant in Sharjah. Egypt’s Suez Cement is investing USD 25 mn in plans to generate some 20 MW of power from the waste heat recovery facility at its Helwan plant. Kuwait Municipality also approved a refuse-driven fuel project to power up its main cement production plant in October, and Saudi Electricity Company is reportedly planning waste energy-powered projects.

Acwa Power inks PPAs for Uzbekistan wind farm: Tadawul-listed Acwa Power signed power purchase and investment agreements with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan for a 1.5 GW wind energy farm, according to a statement released last week. The mega project — said to be Central Asia’s largest — will have a price tag of USD 2.4 bn.

The details: The farm will contain three 500 MW wind energy facilities, which will offset some 2.4 mn tons of CO2 emissions yearly once operational, the statement notes. Each of the projects will also include a 100 MW capacity battery storage system.

Other GCC countries are interested: The UAE’s Masdar achieved financial close in September on a USD 600 mn, 500 MW wind farm in Uzbekistan, with commercial operations expected to start by 4Q 2024.

Acwa is solidifying its foothold in Asia: The Saudi energy giant will establish a USD 7 bn green hydrogen and derivatives production project in Thailand, targeting the production of 225k tons of green hydrogen annually. The company is also currently developing a 240 MW wind farm in Azerbaijan, with reported investment of USD 300 mn — said to be the “first and largest foreign investment” in the country’s renewable energy sector. A non-binding MoU for a 1 GW solar project in Bangladesh is also in the cards, along with floating solar plants, renewable energy battery storage, green hydrogen facilities, and hydroelectricity projects in Indonesia.

Oman explores low-carbon ammonia generation: Omani state-owned energy investment company OQ signed an agreement with the Oman India Fertiliser Company (Omifco) to explore including carbon capture tech at its Sur ammonia-urea fertilizer production plant, Oman Daily Observer quotes Vice President of Low Carbon Molecules at OQ Ghalib Al Maamari as saying. The plant produces 3.5 tons of ammonia daily. The upgrade would produce low-carbon ammonia by using carbon capture and storage tech to reduce emissions.

Who is Omifco? The joint venture was established in 2002 between the Indian and Omani governments for the purpose of launching the Sur plant, according to its company profile. OQ has a 50% stake in Omifco, while the remaining stake is split equally between Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited and Indian firm Krishak Bharati Cooperative.

OQ has other plans in the works as well: OQ signed in December an MoU with Japanese investment company Sumitomo, shipping firm AP Moller-Maersk, and Omani logistics company Asyad to conduct a feasibility study on the green ammonia and methanol production potential at Duqm and Salalah ports. OQ also signed an MoU with the Oman India Fertiliser Company to explore the feasibility of blue hydrogen generation in the country’s eastern province of Sur. The price tag of OQ’s green and low-carbon ammonia projects “is going to be in excess of USD 40 bn” once fully developed, and would generate more than 30 GW of energy, nearly triple the size of the country’s current electricity grid capacity, the outlet quotes Al Maamari as saying.

KSA signs cooperation agreements with Japan, Turkey and Korea: Saudi Arabia signed a cooperation agreement with Japan in the fields of green hydrogen and clean ammonia generation last week, according to a statement. The agreement will build on the country’s renewables generation capacity to boost green hydrogen production and export potential, the Ministry said on Twitter. The two countries also signed a similar agreement for the co-development of carbon capture tech as part of the kingdom’s efforts to develop its circular carbon economy, KSA’s Energy Ministry said.

KSA also wants to ramp up EV production capacity with help from Hyundai, Arab News reports. KSA signed an MoU with Hyundai Motor Co. for the construction of an electric vehicle and internal combustion engine manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia. There are no details on the timeline or financials.

IN OTHER CLIMATE DIPLO NEWS- Oman will cooperate with Japan on renewables: The Sultanate’s Energy and Minerals Ministry signed MoUs with Japan on carbon cycling, methanation, and hydrogen production last week, Oman Observer reports. The two countries also extended their 2014 energy resources cooperation agreement to focus on clean energy, crude oil, and natural gas, the news outlet notes.

Saudi Power Procurement Company is re-tendering power projects to add carbon capture capacity: State-owned Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPCC) intends to re-tender two independent gas-fired combined-cycle power projects to provide both with carbon capture and sequestration capacity, the company noted last week. Under the re-tendering process, the projects will be split into four smaller combined cycle power projects with a 1.8 GW capacity each. Developers that have already qualified for the Taiba and Qassim IPPs will automatically qualify to bid for the new projects, while other interested developers can submit qualification documents, the SPCC website notes. The company will issue a request for proposals on 20 January, it adds.