Good morning, ladies and gents. We have a meaty issue this morning with news all across the sector from all corners of our region, but first…

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THE BIG CLIMATE STORY-

^^ We have the details on this story and more in the news well, below.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- John Kerry to step down as US climate envoy: On Saturday, US Climate Envoy John Kerry informed his staff he is retiring from his position as Biden’s top climate diplomat in the coming months after speaking with President Joe Biden on his planned retirement on Wednesday, according to two administration sources. Kerry will still be assisting Biden during his re-election campaign. The Biden administration has not named the former climate chief’s successor yet.

REFRESHER- Kerry served as climate envoy for three years, and his decision comes on the heels of the COP28 summit, where he launched an international plan to accelerate global nuclear fusion energy development.

UK’s chief climate advisor is out too: The UK’s Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) Chris Stark is leaving his post after six years, according to a statement released on Thursday. Stark’s resignation comes amid Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to scale back green measures and promote legislation supporting oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, the Financial Times reported. The organization is yet to appoint an acting executive or permanent chair to replace Stark.

The story grabbed a lot of ink in the international papers: Reuters | The Financial Times | The Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg | The Washington Post | The New York Times | The Guardian | BBC | CNN | CNBC | Deutsche Welle

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Italy approves study on green hydrogen corridor with Morocco: Italy approved financing of a study on a planned green hydrogen corridor extending from Morocco, to the port of Trieste in Italy, and then extending to Central and Eastern Europe, Morocco World News reported on Saturday. Details on the size of the cabinet’s funding package and a targeted timeline on completion were not disclosed.

REMEMBER-It’s not the first we’ve heard of a Morocco-EU green corridor: In June, Italy and Morocco said they are partnering together with Spain on a green fuels transport corridor which is planned to go through the entire EU region. The trio have decided to exclude Algeria from the project due to diplomatic tensions it holds with Madrid. Last year, the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative submitted an updated version of its vision for the infrastructure map where hydrogen is set to be transported on the project.

#2- Oman’s Manah 1 solar farm reaches financial close: The consortium led by EDF Renewables and Korea Western Power Corporation (KOWEPO) said it has reached financial close on the 500 MW Manah 1 Solar project in Oman, according to a statement published last week. The plant — under construction since September — is set to begin commercial operations by 1Q 2025. The project’s funding will be obtained from equity and loan programs from local and foreign banks, including Korea’s Export-Import Bank, Société Générale, and Muscat Bank, which it secured USD 301.8 mn from last month. The UK’s Clifford Chance law firm served as an advisor to the financiers on the project.

#3- Turkish steel giant will sink USD 3.2 bn into green transition by 2030: Turkish steel producer Erdemir is set to invest USD 3.2 bn to curb emissions by 25% by the end of the decade, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing its subsidiary OYAK Mining Metallurgy’s CFO Serdar Basoglu. Over 70% of Erdemir’s investment will come from foreign loans.

About Erdemir: Established in 1965, the company supplies its products to the renewables, automotive, electronics, general manufacturing, machinery, heating equipment, and shipbuilding industries, amongst others.

#4- Egypt sets 2030 hydrogen target: Egypt updated its green hydrogen production goals to 3.2 mn tons annually by 2030 and 9.2 mn tons by 2040, Al Borsa reported last week, citing a cabinet research document it has seen. The country is eying an 8% share of the global green hydrogen market — or 5.6 mn tons —by 2040. Egypt is looking to export its hydrogen to Europe, where the market is set to expand after the EU passed a directive requiring green hydrogen to reach 42% of the industrial sector’s energy mix by 2030, and 60% by 2035.

REMEMBER- The country is expanding its hydrogen goals: The Egyptian government, which said it will operate its first green hydrogen plant in 2026, previously announced the aim to produce up to 1.5 mn tons of green hydrogen annually by 2030 and to raise production to 5.8 mn tons by 2040 from 72 GW of renewable energy.

ALSO-Egypt aims to increase renewable energy use to nearly 12% this year: Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy has set a new goal of sourcing 11.8% of the country’s energy mix from renewables, Youm7 reported on Thursday. The current total renewable energy capacity is 7 GW. In 2022, Egypt sped up its short-term renewables goals, setting a goal to reach 42% renewables by 2030 instead of the initial 2035 timeline. This however comes in contradiction to its downward revision of its 2040 renewables goal from 60% to 50% by 2040 last June.

#5- Is PIF-backed US EV maker Lucid underperforming?Deliveries by Lucid fell 10% y-o-y to a record low 1.7 vehicles in 4Q 2023 on weak customer demand, according to a company statement released on Thursday. The automaker’s production has also fallen 31% to y-o-y to 2.4k vehicles in the same quarter. Lucid’s shares fell 38% last year. The EV maker said it will release its 4Q 2023 earnings release on 21 February.

REMEMBER- Lucid has big plans for the Kingdom: Lucid plans to produce 155k EVs yearly in the kingdom once full-fledged production capacity is achieved by 2025. Once fully operational, Lucid’s production plant is expected to net the EV manufacturer USD 3.4 bn over 15 years.

#6- Tesla + Volvo hit by Red Sea shipping crisis: EV giant Tesla and Swedish carmaker Volvo have suspensed some production in Europe over a shortage of components due to the ongoing Red Sea shipping crisis, Reuters reported on Friday. Tesla says it is facing a component shortage due to its shipments being rerouted around the southern tip of Africa, following the recent attacks by Houthi fighters on commercial vessels headed to Israel or Palestine via the Red Sea. This pushed Tesla to suspend the majority of car production at its Berlin factory from 29 January to 11 February, the company told Reuters. Similarly, Volvo is suspending production for three days at its Ghent plant in Belgium due to delayed gearbox deliveries. Tesla shares have already dropped 3.7% in New York trade, while Volvo Car shares fell 2.8% in Stockholm.

DANGER ZONE-

#1- Global renewable energy needs to grow faster to meet 2030 goal: The International Energy Agency (IEA) is ringing the alarm that global renewable energy capacity is not growing fast enough to meet the goal of tripling it by 2030 as agreed upon at COP28, according to its newly released Renewables 2023 report (pdf). Renewable capacity added in 2023 increased by 50% from the previous year to 510 GW, but this amount needs to more than double by 2028 to reach the 2030 target of 11 TW. China — which accounted for nearly 60% of new renewable capacity last year — is expected to contribute 56% of the renewable energy capacity additions, or almost 2 TW from 2023 to 2028, followed by the EU at 429 GW and the US at 337 GW. India is also set to contribute 203 GW while the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will add roughly 63 GW, the report added.

#2- Natgas going strong despite global energy transition efforts: Almost all the world’s regions are investing heavily in the infrastructure needed to increase the use of natural gas in power generation despite the global efforts to transition energy systems away from fossil fuels, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a report (pdf) by Global Energy Monitor. Gas pipelines that are planned or under construction will see investments of more than USD 720 bn and an additional USD 190 bn on facilities to handle LNG imports. This ensures that fossil fuels will have a role in key power systems beyond 2030. The report identifies the largest investors in gas infrastructure as East Asia, South Asia, and North America, which will see major growth in their gas network length and import capacity.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the Management and Sustainability of Water Resources Conference from Monday, 26 February to Wednesday 28 February in Dubai. Water availability in arid and semiarid regions, global water issues, and future water and environmental challenges are all on the agenda.

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

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