TODAY: Empower inks district cooling agreement with Dubai Maritime City
Good morning, wonderful people. We’re experiencing an end-of-week slowdown as we roll into the weekend.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Emirates Central Cooling Systems (Empower) has signed an agreement to provide district cooling services to Dubai Maritime City (DMC). The firm will invest
AED 450 mn (USD 122 mn) to construct two plants that will provide more than 63k refrigeration tons (RT) of cooling capacity at the maritime zone. 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 the climate headlines this morning, but the western press is focusing heavily on the severe coast-to-coast winter storm currently battering the US. Tens of mns of Americans across 29 states are struggling with severe icing, extreme cold and sleet falls along with suspended international flights and power outages across several states. (Bloomberg | CNN | CNBC | BBC | The Guardian | The New York Times | The Washington Post | USA Today | Associated Press | WSJ)
HAPPENING TODAY- The International Conference on Sustainable Finance and Green Fintech kicks off in Abu Dhabi. The event will bring together academics, policymakers, and regulators to evaluate current issues shaping the broad financial services sector, focusing on sustainable finance and Green Fintech. Researchers participating in the conference had the opportunity to submit their papers last year to be discussed during the conference, with a chance to be published in an academic journal. You can find more details on the agenda here.
OVER IN COP LAND- Al Jabar sets the scene for COP28’s priorities: COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber laid out some key mitigation and adaptation priorities set to inform November’s discussions in a speech yesterday at the World Sustainable Development Summit. Mitigation priorities include tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling hydrogen production, increasing nuclear power, improving battery storage, and growing the scale and efficiency of carbon capture. Food and water will also be COP28 priorities through examining how to reduce emissions in food systems and focusing on agri-tech and sustainable water use, he said.
Doubling down on adaptation finance: COP28 “must conclude” the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and finalize an agreement on doubling adaptation finance, Al Jaber emphasized. Established through the 2015 Paris Agreement, the GGA was designed to raise awareness of the importance of adaptation, so it would be viewed with similar urgency to mitigation. Adaptation priorities also include protecting biodiversity and nature-based solutions, Al Jaber added.
The UAE-India renewables partnership is real: The UAE will explore “all opportunities” to partner with India to help develop the country’s low carbon infrastructure, Reuters quotes Al Jaber as saying. Al Jaber pointed to India’s goal of bringing 500 GW of renewable energy online within the next seven years as a “a powerful statement of intent,” the newswire reports.
WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Acwa Power, Indonesia will work on green hydrogen production: Tadawul-listed Acwa Power and state-owned fertilizers company Pupuk Indonesia have inked an agreement to develop a giga-scale green hydrogen project, Zawya reports. No further details regarding the location of the plant, or the timeline or financial details of the project have been provided.
WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Egypt wants to strengthen solar energy production with help from Invest India and and the International Solar Alliance: Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) CEO Hossam Heiba met with Invest India and the International Solar Alliance to discuss avenues to boost its solar energy generation as part of Egypt’s participation in the Solar X Grand Challenge, according to a statement. Launched during COP27, the initiative aims to increase solar energy deployment across Africa by upskilling and drumming up investments for the continent’s solar energy-focused startup sector.
Targets: Solar X will provide USD 15k in funding for 20 select startups, offer capacity building programs, and connect startups with global investors to help boost scalability. Interested companies can apply here before the March 31 closing date.
WATCH THIS SPACE #3- The global solar industry has seen “unprecedented” price volatility recently driven by intense competition to secure profits, Bloomberg reports. While overall demand for solar power remains unaffected — and seems on track to continue growing at a record rate — solar giants have been adjusting their pricing strategies as they attempt to secure their profit margins and market share, the business information service adds. Top wafer manufacturers LONGi and TCL raised their prices by some 20% in the last few weeks, while top cell maker Tongwei hiked its prices by around 8.5%, it noted.
Polysilicon price fluctuations illustrate the volatility: The addition of new manufacturing plants late last year drove down the prices of polysilicon — the core material in solar panels — leading major producers to attempt to support prices in recent weeks by reducing sales, Bloomberg noted. Prices plummeted more than 40% over several weeks, starting December, and have since been hiked by over 50% in under a month, the outlet added.
This could be ongoing: “Volatility is expected to continue in coming months as polysilicon producers and their clients who manufacture wafers compete to gain advantage in a declining price environment,” Bloomberg quotes Wood Mackenzie research director Alex Whitworth saying.
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COME TO OUR NEXT ENTERPRISE FORUM-
We’re excited to unveil our next C-level event in Cairo: The Enterprise Exports & FDI Forum, where we will take a deep dive into two of the most critical topics affecting our community.
Interested to learn more about how Egypt is planning on drumming up foreign direct investment (FDI) for all these green hydrogen, solar and wind agreements? Exports and FDI have never been more important to Egypt’s economy — or its businesses — than in the wake of the float of the EGP and the country’s positioning as a regional renewable energy hub. We think there’s a unique chance to build an export-led economy that makes Egypt a magnet for FDI and all the benefits that will come with it.
Want to join the conversation? Drop us a line on events@enterprisemea.com.
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
The UAE will host the Annual Gulf Ins. Forum from Monday, 27 February to Tuesday, 28 February in Dubai. The event will host panel discussions on sustainable ins. for ESG, the role of Gulf ins. companies in securing renewables, the future of ins. for Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), ins. solutions to address climate change and environmental pollution, and the banking sector’s experience in issuing green and sustainability bonds. You can register for the event here.
Qatar will host the International Conference on Climate Change and Human Rights from Tuesday, 21 February to Wednesday, 22 February in Doha. The conference will gather over 300 participants from governments, think tanks, universities, and human rights institutions to discuss and present climate mitigation and adaptation policies from a human rights perspective.
Egypt will host the CSR Forum from 2-5 March at Somabay, Hurghada. The event aims to further discussions put forth during COP27 and boost private and public sector cooperation on climate action. You can register for the event here.
Qatar will host the Earthna Summit from 8-9 March in Doha. The event will bring together industry leaders and policymakers to explore tailored solutions for the energy transition in hot climates. You can register for the event here.
The Arabia CSR Awards is accepting applications until Friday, 30 June. The award winners will be announced during a ceremony on Wednesday, 4 October.
The first MENA Solar Conference is accepting applications from published researchers specialized in PV technology until Sunday, 30 April. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority will be hosting the conference from 15 to 18 November, in conjunction with the Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition and the Dubai Solar Show 2023. Researchers can submit their papers here.
Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.