Introduction

In the next 30 years, the major share of the global energy demand will be shifted toward the developing countries, mainly, China, India and Middle East. The decision that those countries will make, either in term of policies to regulate the energy investment or decisions on the type of energy resources used to supply the growth in their energy need, will impact the global energy landscape in the coming years. At the same time, renewable energy share of the total energy is in rise, which has been projected to reach 31% in 2035, with a global investment reached a total of $269 billion in 2012.

China, south America, India is entering the renewable energy sector with both large investments and installations, while the Middle East still progressing very slow, and in some countries it is almost stagnant.

Despite the environmental attractiveness of renewable energy, it will be difficult to compete economically with the dominate energy fuel in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries, natural gas. Hence the governments should take serious incentives to encourage investment in renewable energy, through embarking strong and stable policies to attract investors and major renewable energy players to the region.

This chapter discuss two scenarios for “Renewable Energy Policies” in the GCC region. The scenarios will be based on the current GCC countries Renewable Energy Landscape, which depends on the resources, investment opportunities and technology R&D. The main polices to encourage renewable energy projects in the region will highlighted, considering both the unique economic and social characteristic for the GCC. In addition, the scenarios are taking into account the role of the governments and private sectors on driving the renewable energy market in the future. The implementation of either of these scenarios will depend solely on the individual market structure and strength in the GCC countries.

Energy Sources in GCC Countries

The electric power production in GCC countries are heavily dependent on the conventional fuel based technologies, which are very reliable and cheap compared to other alternative technologies. The main source of fuel used in the conventional power stations in the region is natural gas which is produced locally and in some countries is entirely consumed locally for energy production.