Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will create around 200,000 jobs through their solar projects by 2030, according to a report published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The agency also predicts that GCC nations will generate 40GW of energy through their solar projects.
According to the report, around 45 percent of the 200,000 will be in the UAE. While Saudi Arabia will account for 33 percent of the jobs, Kuwait will account for 10 percent, Oman will account for 7 percent, Qatar 4 percent and Bahrain will account for 1 percent of the total job created by 2030.
Currently, the UAE accounts for 79 percent of the solar projects in the GCC region.
Concentrated solar power projects and PV projects will account for 89 percent of the jobs created in the renewable energy sector by 2030.
By 2030, GCC nations would create 124,000 solar PV jobs, 50,000 concentrated solar power (CSP) jobs, and 23,000 jobs for small-scale solar rooftop projects.
The IRENA report also revealed that around 67 percent of the 200,000 jobs created by 2030 in the GCC region would be in construction and installation. IRENA expects jobs in the manufacturing sector will also increase when the market will start to mature.
GCC members are also committed to increase their energy production from renewable sources and reduce their dependency on unclean sources such as coal and fossil fuel. IRENA indicated that the GCC’s installed power capacity grew four-fold between 2014 and 2017.
According to IRENA, renewable energy projects undertaken by GCC nations will also help them save around $76 billion by 2030.GW of renewable energy by 2023.