Gulf States Go Big on Solar

The biggest and most influential Middle Eastern oil producers in OPEC are making headlines for a rather surprising reason—their giant renewable energy projects. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have recently announced gigawatt-scale solar plus battery developments, which are set to boost the share of renewables in their electricity mix. The Middle Eastern petrostates are not pivoting from oil and gas—on the contrary. By expanding renewables domestically, these petrostates are freeing up more of their oil and gas for export…