PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the efforts undertaken by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in deploying renewable energy (RE), in terms of capacity assessments, research and development activities, and current and planned projects. The paper also aims to investigate the drivers and barriers for the diffusion of RE technologies in the GCC.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides a literature‐based study on the status of the RE sector in the GCC, including capacities, projects, policies and frameworks in the GCC, in addition to an analysis of the main drivers and barriers to RE deployment arising from the literature.FindingsThe results of this paper illustrate growing interest in renewable energy in the GCC countries at the R&D and project implementation level.Originality/valueThe paper contributes by the provision of the latest knowledge on the status of the RE sector in the GCC and by highlighting the most significant drivers fuelling RE deployment, as well as the barriers currently hindering the greater diffusion of RE technologies in the region.

The energy system is often treated as a self-contained system, disconnected from the broader socioeconomic structures it is built upon. Understanding the enabling environment and structural elements will help to maximize the benefits of the transition and increase awareness of potential barriers and necessary adjustments along the way. IRENA has developed a methodology to measure the socioeconomic footprint of energy transition roadmaps using the E3ME macro-econometric model, which evaluates the likely impacts in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), employment and human welfare. It is based on well-established historical databases and has a proven track record of policy applications. The presented socioeconomic footprint analysis is based on the IRENA REmap energy transition roadmap 2018 that explores a higher deployment of low-carbon technologies, mostly renewable energy and energy efficiency. The results show that, with appropriate policies in place, reducing over 90% of the energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from the reference case via renewables and energy efficiency coupled with deep electrification of end-uses, results in consistently positive global GDP impacts across the period of analysis from 2018 to 2050. Across the world economy, the transition case leads to a relative increase of employment by 0.14% over the reference case throughout the analysed period from 2018 to 2050. In addition to GDP and employment growth, the energy transition can offer broader welfare gains. However, not all countries and regions around the world benefit equally, and just transition policies must be included to ensure all regions and communities are able to take advantage of the energy transition.

In order to respond to the need for European Union (EU)-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) clean energy cooperation and provide a practical instrument fostering such activities, the EC External Relations Directorate General has launched the project "Creation and Operation of an EU-GCC Clean Energy Network". To the best of our knowledge, there are no practical tools and instruments to guide structured discussion on EU-GCC clean energy cooperation avenues, acting as catalyst and element of coordination. Aim of this paper is to present the first outcomes of the Discussion Group "Energy Demand Side Management (DSM) and Energy Efficiency (ENEF)" of the Network. Indeed, there exist a significant potential for promoting cooperation EU-GCC on ENEF & DSM and specific areas of cooperation of mutual benefit, which are identified and discussed in this paper. The key message is the importance of taking action over discussion for promoting cooperation on ENEF & DSM, in the sharing of related expertise and knowledge and in raising general public awareness and collaborating in the framework of common project activities.

The harsh climate of GCC, rapid industrialisation and energy subsidies have led to a per capita energy consumption that is much higher than the larger economies of the US, China and the EU. The situation is likely to become worse as more electricity, desalinated water and gasoline will be needed to fuel the ambitious national plans for industrial and economic growth. Localised shortages of natural gas already exist, and the long term viability of a fossil fuel based economy is being discussed at different levels of decision making. Therefore, in order to diversify their energy mix, increase energy security, and save the national fossil fuel sources for export, the GCC countries are setting up targets for deployment of renewable energy (RE). The objective of this paper is to analyse the impacts of these targets on the CO2 emissions and fuel savings. The paper addresses commitments of the GCC governments to their diversification targets by reviewing their recent efforts in renewable energy project implementation, investments in local RE industry, institutional developments, and support to research institutions. Based on the national renewable energy targets for 2020 and 2030, the paper estimates the impacts of the diversification of the GCC energy mix on CO2 emissions and fuel savings. The monetory value of these savings is also estimated based on assumptions of future carbon and fuel prices. Some of the GCC countries have already defined their choice of renewable energy technologies, for others, we develop a potential RE mix comprising of solar, wind and waste to energy technologies. Our findings indicate that the implementation of the RE targets in the GCC can result in very large cumulative CO2 emission savings and fuel savings. The opportunity costs from fuel savings alone would be substantial. In addition, our work shows that the renewable energy targets of the GCC governments are backed by practical efforts that include RE project development, local industry support and domestic capacity building programmes. Successful implementation of these national targets can result in significant savings of valuable fossil fuel resources while significantly reducing the per capita carbon footprint of region.