TODAY: Enterprise Climate X Forum kicks off + Morocco’s Xlinks project postponed for at least a year
Good morning, friends. We’re really looking forward to seeing many of you in a couple of hours’ time at our inaugural Enterprise Climate X Forum, which gets underway this morning at 8am at the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Please join us in thanking the wonderful people who made all this possible: USAID, HSBC, Mashreq, Attijariwafa Bank, Etisalat by e&, Hassan Allam Utilities, and Infinity.
If you’re attending: Please plan to arrive on time. Our standing networking breakfast is one of the hallmarks of the event. It gets underway at 8am CLT sharp. Traffic in the area surrounding the GEM has been heavy of late, so you will likely want to leave a few minutes early.
** You will need a special QR code to gain admission to the GEM. Everyone who received and completed our online registration form got their QR code by email yesterday.
We regret that overwhelming demand from the community meant we could not welcome everyone who expressed interest in attending.
STAY TUNED- The Enterprise Climate X Forum is our first large-scale event, but it’s not our last. We look forward to welcoming many more of you at our slate of Enterprise X Forums coming up in 2023.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- UAE-based retail giant Majid Al Futtaim has raised a USD 1.25 bn sustainability-linked loan to make its malls more LEED-friendly and cut emissions. This is the company’s second second sustainability-linked loan and will be linked to sustainability performance targets set by the company through a revolving credit facility.
ALSO- The Sharjah waste-to-energy plant is getting new operators: A JV between Emirati waste management company Bee’ah, UAE renewable energy company Masdar, and French resource management firm Veolia Middle East will operate and maintain the Sharjah waste-to-energy plant for 25 years.
^^ We have chapter and verse on these stories and more in the news well, below.
WATCH THIS SPACE #1- The UK’s dysfunctional politics is holding back efforts to bring more clean electricity into the country: The GBP 18 bn project to link the UK grid to 10.5 GW of solar and wind plants in Morocco has been delayed by at least another year thanks to political instability in London, the Guardian reports. Project developer Xlinks had hoped that the project would start generating power in 2017 but frequent changes in the British government has made reaching a financing agreement through public subsidies difficult.
Xlinks could look elsewhere: Xlinks executive chair Dave Lewis said last month that talks with the UK had been “frustratingly slow” and that other buyers may be on the table if the UK doesn’t get its house in order. The company was expecting an assurance next year that UK consumers will pay GBP 48 per MWh.
REFRESHER- The Xlinks renewable energy project in Morocco is set to generate 10.5 GW of solar and wind energy and install 20 GWh of on-site battery storage by 2030. When complete, the project will supply 8% of the UK’s energy needs via a 3.6 GW subsea interconnector.
WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Green hydrogen, courtesy of BP — coming to MENA soon? British energy company BP is exploring green hydrogen production in Oman and Mauritania, BP sources told Reuters. This comes as the company is betting on hydrogen as the fuel of the future, with investments expected to reach USD hundreds of mns by 2030 globally, the newswire added. Aside from assembling a 150-person strong hydrogen division, the company is also planning to set up a “low carbon” green hydrogen center in the US, BP head of hydrogen in the US Tomeka McLeod told Reuters.
WATCH THIS SPACE #3- Morocco will put into action a new strategy to develop electric transportation in 2023, Afrik21 reported yesterday. The plan aims to establish a regulatory framework for producing and distributing electricity for net-zero transportation, said sales and marketing director of the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water Elamine Fechtali. The Kingdom has been working diligently to lower its emissions, ramp up investments for renewable energy, as well as advancing green mobility.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Biden’s climate bill is stoking US-EU trade tensions: Tension between the US and EU over the impact of US President Joe Biden’s USD 430 bn Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on EU industrial players has been drawing coverage in the international press. How to ensure EU companies, manufacturers and industries can compete with their US counterparts was the question dominating press coverage in the run-up to yesterday’s US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Ministerial Meeting in Maryland. The IRA is set to heavily subsidize US-made products in a bid to boost renewable energy and address the climate crisis. (Reuters | Financial Times | Euronews | Reuters | Euronews)
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WORTH READING- IMF brief looks at game-changing potential of green hydrogen: Hydrogen could be “a next frontier of the energy transition” with the potential to create major changes in the global geopolitical landscape, notes a recent IMF brief (pdf). Fossil fuel exporters in MENA and elsewhere can build on their existing infrastructure, trade relations, and human capitals to export green hydrogen while fossil fuel importers like Morocco and Egypt could be presented with “a geopolitical game changer,” the brief notes.
But scaling up production presents some big challenges — which makes international governance essential, the brief notes. Governments can help to push down costs and increase production by using policy instruments like public procurement and carbon contracts for difference to de-risk investment in hydrogen supply. Standards, certification and monitoring processes need to be set across the clean hydrogen value chain and developing countries should receive financial and technical support to become sites of green industrialization — not merely green hydrogen producers and exporters, the brief argues.
HAPPENING TODAY-
Rwanda is hosting the World Circular Economy Forum starting today until Thursday in Kigali. The forum — taking place in Africa for the first time — will shed light on how the circular economy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support climate change adaptation, and protect the planet’s biodiversity.
WORLD CUP-
It’s day 17 of the World Cup and the fourth day of the knockouts (all times CLT):
- Morocco v Spain (5pm)
- Portugal v Switzerland (9pm)
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
UAE will host the Big 5 Global Construction Impact Summit this Wednesday, 7 December at the Dubai World Trade Center. The event will bring together more than 2k exhibitors and regional and global construction industry leaders to discuss ways to meet net-zero and waste-reduction targets.
Canada will host the UN Biodiversity Conference from Wednesday, 7 to Monday, 19 December in Montreal. The main target of the conference is to determine a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework which includes 21 targets to hit by 2030 globally in a bid to preserve and safeguard nature.
(xxMS) Tunisia will host the International Renewable Energy Congress from Tuesday, 13 December to Thursday, 15 December in Hammamet. The event will provide a platform for researchers and industry leaders to showcase trends in the renewable energy sector.