Bahrain ‘to be leader in renewable energy’
Bahrain is set to a be a leader in renewable energy generation among the Gulf nations, according to the kingdom’s Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) chairman, Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
His Majesty King Hamad’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs Shaikh Nasser addressed the world’s energy leaders in a keynote speech at CERAWeek 2023 in Texas where he spoke about Bahrain’s energy transition and the future of global energy.
“We are facing a new reality as domestic gas resources become increasingly costly and challenging to extract,” Shaikh Nasser noted, in the plenary session titled ‘Accelerating the Energy Transition’.
“We believe there is still significant potential in our oil and gas sector. We are working hard to de-risk some of these opportunities, including offshore resources, through a comprehensive 3-D seismic programme planned for next year.
“We also recognise the need to transition our energy supply, be it to meet our climate-action targets or to ensure our nation’s energy security.”
CERAWeek 2023, being organised by S&P Global, brings together the world’s top energy experts and thought leaders and is set to continue until Friday.
It is widely considered to be the most prestigious annual gathering of executives and ministers from global energy and utilities, as well as automotive, manufacturing, policy-making and finance sector.
During his remarks, Shaikh Nasser highlighted the vision of His Majesty and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to secure Bahrain’s energy needs for decades to come and achieve the nation’s COP26 and Net-Zero targets.
“The targets we have set require us to embark on a complex and sophisticated journey of decarbonisation through a combination of levers, such as optimising demand, having a flexible power mix, and carbon capture and storage,” he added.
“In order to meet our ambitious Net Zero targets, we are accelerating our energy transition efforts. Nogaholding is committed to working with the right partners across the public and private sectors to expedite our adoption of new technologies and infrastructure.
“We are confident that our efforts will inspire other countries to follow our lead.”
The kingdom also plans to significantly increase domestic energy efficiency through new infrastructure requirements at both the consumer and commercial levels, including district cooling for new developments.
Nogaholding is also in the final stages of the Bapco Modernisation Programme. Once completed in 2024, the refinery is set to be one of the most efficient, complex, and modern refineries in the region.
Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1196297/Bahrain-%E2%80%98to-be-leader-in-renewable-energy%E2%80%99
