Publications

The “Resolutionary” Shift: The EU’s Transition to 15-Minute Clearing in Day-Ahead Electricity Markets

Amro Elshurafa

In an effort to enhance grid stability, support the deployment of renewable energy, and improve overall electricity market performance, the European Union (EU) is preparing to implement a significant change – the introduction of a 15-minute Market Time Unit (MTU)…

Elshurafa, Amro

Are There Adequate Materials and Land Resources for the Saudi Power Sector to Achieve Net Zero by 2060?

Khalid Alhadhrami, Marie Petitet, Sarah Abuouf, Abdulelah Darandary, Timothy Laing, Frank Felder, Amro Elshurafa

Saudi Arabia has committed to net-zero (NZ) greenhouse gas emissions by 2060. This requires substantial emission reductions across key sectors, including the power generation sector. We assess the technological options, critical mineral requirements, renewable energy resource requirements, and costs associated…

Alhadhrami, Khalid

Marie Petitet

Abuouf, Sarah

Darandary, Abdulelah

Laing, Timothy

Felder, Frank

Elshurafa, Amro

The Rapid Expansion of Battery Energy Storage: Why the Saudi Market Is Booming

Ahmed Al-Balawi, Muhammad Adnan Hayat

Saudi Arabia has embraced utility-scale battery storage to the extent that it now ranks third globally in announced battery storage energy project capacities at 22 gigawatt-hours (GWh), behind only China and the United States (U.S.), and it aims to achieve…

Ahmed Al-Balawi

Adnan Hayat, Muhammad

Opportunities From Saudi Mineral Resources – A Domestic Supply Perspective

Ahmed Al-Balawi, Jitendra Roychoudhury, Yagyavalk Bhatt, Dongmei Chen, Caitlin McKennie, Ian Lange

Saudi Arabia’s mineral sector, long recognized as the third pillar of its economy alongside oil and petrochemicals, is becoming increasingly vital due to the global demand for minerals essential for the clean energy transition. Understanding the domestic and international implications…

Ahmed Al-Balawi

Roychoudhury, Jitendra

Bhatt, Yagyavalk

Chen, Dongmei

Caitlin McKennie

Ian Lange

Exploring Contractual Arrangements for Electricity Trading in the Middle East

Marie Petitet, Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh, Sandrine Wachon

The Gulf region is undergoing an energy transition, and the electricity sector is crucial to its success. Since 2001, the region’s interconnections have allowed electricity trade among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Its continued interconnection expansion within the GCC…

Marie Petitet

Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh

Wachon, Sandrine

Concrete: The Non-Critical, Critical Material

Timothy Laing

The paper is a commentary on key questions facing the relationship between concrete, the energy transition and the global move to net-zero.

Laing, Timothy

Waste-to-Hydrogen Techno-Economic Assessment and Emission Reduction Potential in Saudi Arabia

Muhammad Adnan Hayat, Amro Elshurafa

Waste-to-hydrogen (WTH) presents an enormous untapped potential to achieve climate change objectives for many countries by transitioning from high CO2 emission waste disposal techniques to producing clean fuel such as green hydrogen. Additionally, WTH can be incorporated with carbon capture…

Adnan Hayat, Muhammad

Elshurafa, Amro

Technoeconomic Assessment and Carbon Dioxide Removal Potential for the Global Pulp and Paper Industry

Muhammad Adnan Hayat, Amro Elshurafa

The pulp and paper industry is the fourth largest industrial energy user globally and presents significant carbon removal potential as a large portion of emissions from this industry are biogenic. The decarbonization potential of this industry has been discussed in…

Adnan Hayat, Muhammad

Elshurafa, Amro

The Economics of Offshore Wind-Based Hydrogen Production in Saudi Arabia

Ahmed Al-Balawi, Shahid Hasan, Amro Elshurafa

Offshore hydrogen production from offshore wind energy is gaining global attention as an appealing solution for scaling up green hydrogen production. The technoeconomic feasibility of integrating offshore wind into hydrogen production has been explored in various regions, but no comprehensive…

Ahmed Al-Balawi

Hasan, Shahid

Elshurafa, Amro

Electric Vehicle Battery Chemistry Evolutions: Critical Mineral Implications

Timothy Laing, Tetsuo Morikawa, Michael Koroma, Ahmed Al-Balawi, Abdulrahman Alwosheel

The energy and transport transition will require a wider volume and range of materials than the systems that it is replacing. This has become an increasingly important topic across both the government and private sectors over the last decade. A…

Laing, Timothy

Tetsuo Morikawa

Michael Koroma

Ahmed Al-Balawi

Alwosheel, Abdulrahman

Uncertainty in Modeling the Demand for Materials from the Energy Sector at a Country-level: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia

Timothy Laing

The material intensity of the energy transition has been a topic of growing importance in the literature and policymaking over the last decade. Much of this debate has been founded on a range of future demand forecasts of the material…

Laing, Timothy

How to Create a Hydrogen Market? Lessons from Electricity and Gas Markets on Pricing and Investment Approaches

Shahid Hasan, Rolando Fuentes

To promote low-carbon hydrogen, which is produced in a way that results in no or near-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, for decarbonization, substantial investments are required across the hydrogen value chain. Despite the potential of hydrogen in several applications, various…

Hasan, Shahid

Fuentes, Rolando

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Framework for Examining the Environmental Impacts of Asphalt Pavement Mixtures in Saudi Arabia

Ibrahem Shatnawi, Ayman Ali Waheish

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the predominant approach for evaluating the environmental impacts of asphalt pavement. A comprehensive LCA framework for assessing the environmental impacts of asphalt pavements in Saudi Arabia was defined. This model framework presents a clear approach…

Shatnawi, Ibrahem

Ayman Ali Waheish

Empowering Change: Overcoming Obstacles in Implementing CCS for Power Generation – Key Takeaways for Global Players

Shahid Hasan

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy-related CO2emissions, which come primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels, reached a record high level of 37.4 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2022 (IEA 2024). At 38% electricity generation continues to be the…

Hasan, Shahid

Digitalized Virtual Power Plants to Unlock the Value of Distributed Energy Resources in the Day-Ahead Market

Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh

Digitalized virtual power plants (DVPPs) are advanced software platforms that aggregate and optimally orchestrate a collection of distributed energy resources (DERs) to support grid balance and stability to alleviate stressed transmission and distribution lines and provide critical grid services. DVPPs…

Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh

Resilient Digitalized Power Grids with High Penetration of Distributed, Variable Renewable Energy

Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh

Conventional power grids are undergoing a transition towards digitalized power grids, where cyber, physical, and social domains are tightly coupled through smart components, advanced metering infrastructure, wireless communication /connectivity networks, and digital technologies that transform data into valuable insights and…

Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh

Facilitating the Low-Carbon Hydrogen Market: Opportunities, Challenges, and Pathways

The hydrogen industry is at a turning point, as regulatory frameworks and incentive schemes begin to take shape. However, there are still barriers for market participants to commit to production projects and infrastructure, as they face the chicken-and-the-egg dilemma. The…

Strategic Priorities and Cost Considerations for Decarbonizing Electricity Generation Using CCS and Nuclear Energy

Muhammad Adnan Hayat, Shahid Hasan, Amro Elshurafa

This paper investigates the economics of deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) on gas-fired power plants while covering its entire value chain, i.e., carbon capture, transport, and storage, and conducting a thorough sensitivity scenario analysis. Our analysis shows that adopting…

Adnan Hayat, Muhammad

Hasan, Shahid

Elshurafa, Amro

Trends in Global Solar Photovoltaic Installation in 2023

Amro Elshurafa

In 2023, global solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity increased by a record 407 gigawatts (GW) and brought the total global cumulative installed PV capacity to 1,589 GW at the end of 2023.

Elshurafa, Amro

An Emerging Framework for the Probabilistic Cost- Benefit Analysis of the Reliability, Resiliency, and Adaptability of Electric Power Systems

Frank Felder, Marie Petitet

Probabilistic cost-benefit analyses of the reliability, resiliency, and adaptability of electric power systems can inform policymakers on how to efficiently reduce the frequency, magnitude, duration, and costs of power outages; how to cost-effectively improve the integration of variable and intermittent…

Felder, Frank

Marie Petitet