Good morning, wonderful people. We’re starting the week with an offering of kudos to Morocco’s national football team for being the first Arab and African team to ever make it to a FIFA World Cup semifinal match. We tip our hats to every player on the team for their spectacular performance against Portugal, especially Youssef En Nesyri, whose header on Saturday secured Morocco’s place in the next stage of the game in Qatar. Morocco will play against France on Wednesday at 11 pm Dubai-time — we’re rooting for you, Atlas Lions.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Saudi Arabia and China signed a plethora of agreements across several sectors, including renewable energy and EVs. Acwa Power, Aramco and Sumou were all active during the Chinese President’s Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia last week.

ALSO- Masdar just got more shareholders: The UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) bought stakes in sovereign wealth fund Mubadala’s clean energy firm Masdar.

^^ We’ve got chapter and verse on these stories and more in the news well, below.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- The EUR 2.5 bn Barcelona-Marseille undersea hydrogen pipeline will come online by 2030, Euronews reported yesterday. The H2MED pipeline is projected to transport up to 2 mn tons of hydrogen a year. Spain, Portugal, and France who are partners on the project will present it as a “project of common interest” to receive up to half of its cost from the EU, according to President Emmanuel Macron.

The path to a “real European hydrogen backbone”: Europe — who is expediting its energy transition — is looking to produce 10 mn tons of renewable hydrogen in the EU by 2030, as well as import an additional 10 mn, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Hydrogen was a major topic at our Enterprise Climate X Forum last week in Cairo, where Egypt is looking to emerge as a global center of the hydrogen economy (here and here).

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Speaking of hydrogen: BMW is testing MENA’s first zero-carbon SUV in 2023. German automaker BMW kicked off production of its hydrogen-powered iX5 Hydrogen and will start testing its new net zero car in select regions starting 2Q 2023, The National reports. The specific MENA countries the vehicle will be released in have not been disclosed yet.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- KSA and Korea ink renewables trade agreement: Saudi Arabia’s Saudi EXIM has signed an MoU to export green hydrogen and ammonia to the Korea Trade Ins. Corporation (K-Sure), according to a Saudi Press Agency statement released last Thursday. No financial details are known yet.

The Korea-Saudi energy trade is on the rise: Saudi Aramco and Sabic Agri-Nutrients shipped the world’s first commercial load containing 25k tons of blue ammonia to South Korea last month, and Saudi mining company Maaden is also expected to export a similar shipment of blue ammonia to the East Asian country by the end of the year.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- The Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) is auctioning clean energy certificates until this coming Wednesday, 14 December. The state-owned company — the exclusive vendor of nuclear and solar-produced electricity in the UAE — is selling digital certificates to certify the source of renewable energy usage and allow companies to back up ESG goals. Emirates Global Aluminium purchased 1.1 mn MWh of clean energy certificates from Ewec in November.

---

HAPPENING TODAY- The Saudi Arabian Energy Ministry’s Smart Grid Conference kicks off today and runs through this Wednesday, 14 December at the Riyadh Hilton Hotel. This year’s edition will include 247 workshops covering topics like renewable energy and grid integrations, and new trends and tech solutions in smart grids. You can register for the event here.

---

GRAPH OF THE DAY- Light travels faster than wind: Solar power as an energy source is likely to surpass coal, natgas and hydropower by 2027, according to the International Energy Agency’s Renewables 2022 report (pdf). Renewable energy sources will make up about 40% of electricity output worldwide by the end of 2022. Wind seems to be the second fastest growing source of energy production, while bioenergy is going to be making minimal progress in the next five years.

MENA is expected to triple its renewable energy expansions to 45 GW in the next five years compared to the last five years, the report says. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Oman, Morocco, and Egypt are set to make up 85% of the region’s renewable energy capacity growth in the coming five years. About 75% of that expansion focuses on solar energy, but there are six markets that are doing the heavy lifting.

ICYMI- The IEA report is full of feel-good news including highlights like the decline of green technology costs, the booming of climate VCs, and the rise in EV sales. Check out this Twitter thread for more genuinely good climate news from the IEA report.

STAY TUNED- Tomorrow’s edition of Going Green in EnterpriseAM will go deeper into the report.

Get Enterprise Climate

***

YOU’RE READING ENTERPRISE CLIMATE, the essential MENA publication for senior execs who care about the world’s most important industry. We’re out Monday through Thursday at 4am Cairo / 5am Riyadh / 6am UAE.

Were you forwarded this email? Get your own subscription without charge here or reach out to us on climate@enterprisemea.com with comments, suggestions and story tips.

***

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY- The UAE and Israel formalized their trade agreement and will ramp up cooperation in the renewables sector, Emirati Foreign Trade Minister Thani Al Zeyoudi tweeted yesterday. As of September, non-oil trade between the two countries reached USD 2 bn and is expected to expand further after the ratification of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, Al Zeyoudi added. The agreement was signed back in May and reduces tariffs on the vast majority of traded goods between the partners.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Tunisia will host the International Renewable Energy Congress from tomorrow 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.

FURTHER DOWN THE LINE- Saudi Arabia will host the Future Minerals Forum on Tuesday, 10 January to Thursday, 12 January at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center. The forum will discuss the region’s critical minerals supply and creating resilient and responsible minerals value chains for the energy transition.

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