Do you think the MENA region is ready for a big scale renewable energy development and/or new renewable energy set of laws?

I believe North African countries are ready for either off grid or grid connection by using CPV or CSP or Solar Combined Cycle "SCC" mega project subject to join DESERTEC project and/or tie with GTF (Green Technology Fund) to gaurantee the huge required up-front investment and technology transfer, other ME countries like Arab Gulf like Saudi Arabia and UAE already seted their policy frameworks and strat pilot projects started from2MWe to5MWe, some100MW projects in the pipe lines are under assessments.
There are couple of done projects in Egypt, Morocco, algeria usind SCC (Gas+ CSP) and many others on pipe lines.
other factors are there like, land

I believe that renewable energy would finally prevail other conventional methods of energy production in the very near future and it is just the matter of time. MENA would be among those areas that will soon see this change.

 

First of all thank you for asking this particular question, and let me start with pointing that any project will need the following elements to success: (Capital, manpower, sources, marketing plan, government rules and regulations) the MENA area is full of experienced people specialized at managing power (oil and gas) and we don't disagree that most of the MENA and specially the gulf area have the capital and the sources to build mostly anything.

 

I believe it's a matter of time until the MENA will start to use a main new source of power that make the area number1 in the renewable energy and for the time been existing renewable energy sector across the region is existing and for example (Abu Dhabi- UAE) have one of the largest working Solar station cross the world.

 

The area is rich for Solar and Wind elements and we have a vast area to be used specially UAE, KSA,HKJ and many other countries.

 

From my point of view the political condition and the internal affairs side by side are blocking MENA from extending at this field.

 

Finally and hopefully in the near future after this conflict vanished, governments will start bushing forward to the renewal power.

 

I do not believe governments are able to pull off renewable energy project, especially that they need lots of investment, and I believe there are many other priorities that are set by governments, which would leave relatively smaller budgets for the renewable energy.
Sidenote: there are no major players in renewable energy in MENA region, and the amount of collective investment is small compared to european countries, Japan, and US