Despite low oil prices, the trend towards lower-cost renewable energy will continue in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region as business confidence grows in the sector’s potential, an expert has said.

Participating in the Bloomberg New Energy Finance “The Future of Energy Summit”, Bader Al Lamki, executive director of Masdar Clean Energy, said countries in the region will increasingly adopt favourable regulations for renewable energy use.

The two-day summit, themed ‘The Age of Plenty, the Age of Competition,’ saw over 2,000 executives and thought leaders discuss the opportunities and challenges in the energy industry and the current trends that are reshaping the energy-mix across the world.

The conference comes on the back of a record year for the renewable energy industry, which saw over $330 billion invested globally.  

The summit included a keynote speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry. In his remarks, Kerry commended the UAE’s commitment to diversiafying its energy use and highlighted the increasing use of renewable energy in its fuel mix.

Al Lamki spoke at the plenary session “After Paris: How will things be different?” that discussed the momentum after Paris climate negotiations in December 2015.

The event touched on many of the themes that were debated during Global Action Day, the first global event post-COP 21 held during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January.  

Al Lamki said: “In 2015 we took a big step forward, not least with the way that both the public and private sphere came together for the Paris climate change meetings. The economic and business case for renewables is there, which was in part led by organisations such as Masdar pushing smart collaboration and partnership models.”

Al Lamki further reinforced the potential for growth in the renewables industry across the Mena region during a Masdar-convened event titled “Wind and Solar in the Middle East and North Africa.”

He discussed how the region has experienced record levels of clean energy investment in 2015. Solar investment alone grew from about $160 million in 2010 to about $3.5 billion in 2015.  –TradeArabia News Service