Electricity Sector Transitions 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
Framework for Leveraging the Digitalization of Power Systems within the Context of Energy Transition Amro Elshurafa, Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh The digitalization of power systems can contribute to a smoother energy transition by, for example, maximizing the use of renewable energy (RE; i.e., minimizing curtailment), peak shaving, and relaxing grid congestion. Collectively, these and other benefits play an important role… Elshurafa, Amro Moamar Sayed Mouchaweh
Electricity Sector Transitions How Can Bilateral Contracts Support Electricity Trade? A Regional Electricity Model Perspective for the GCC Plus Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq Marie Petitet, Benjamin Ricaud, Frank Felder, Amro Elshurafa Cross-border electricity trading in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) can provide cost and environmental benefits. However, for historical reasons, electricity trading has not reached a mature stage in this region. Based on a bespoke economic dispatch model for… Marie Petitet Benjamin Ricaud Felder, Frank Elshurafa, Amro
Electricity Sector Transitions Assessment of the Potential of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in the Red Sea Ahmed Al-Balawi, Nora Nezamuddin, Frank Felder, Abdelrahman Muhsen, Amro Elshurafa Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) have recently gained traction and are being installed in several regions of Europe and Asia. These turbines use the same technology as typical offshore wind turbines but are not directly anchored to the seabed. Instead,… Ahmed Al-Balawi Nezamuddin, Nora Felder, Frank Muhsen, Abdelrahman Elshurafa, Amro
Electricity Sector Transitions Revitalizing Relationships for the Clean Energy Souk Jitendra Roychoudhury, Ahmed Al-Balawi, Amro Elshurafa, Marie Petitet The GCC countries have been trading for millennia, and energy transition offers new opportunities to revitalize existing trade relationships and form new partnerships driving growth through innovation. Read More Here Roychoudhury, Jitendra Ahmed Al-Balawi Elshurafa, Amro Marie Petitet
Electricity Sector Transitions Identifying Leaders in Electricity Innovation Networks Using Twitter (X): A Resource for Policymaking Rolando Fuentes, Amro Elshurafa The objective of this study is to map the innovation network in the electricity sector and to identify its pivotal actors to inform policymaking, particularly in Saudi Arabia. This study, which is part of a larger series, aims to identify… Fuentes, Rolando Elshurafa, Amro
The Cost of Green Hydrogen Production in Saudi Arabia and Germany: A Model-Based Approach Khalid Alhadhrami, Ahmed Al-Balawi, Shahid Hasan, Amro Elshurafa With over seventy countries setting net-zero commitments by or around mid-century, low-carbon hydrogen (H2) is expected to play a pivotal role in the decarbonization of the global economy, especially sectors less dependent on electricity, which are often termed as hard-to-abate… Alhadhrami, Khalid Ahmed Al-Balawi Hasan, Shahid Elshurafa, Amro
Finding Opportunity in Economic Dispatch: Saving Fuels Without Impacting Retail Electricity Prices Marie Petitet, Frank Felder, Amro Elshurafa For important domestic public policy reasons, many oil- and natural-gas-producing countries allocate fuels to their electricity sector at administratively set prices that are below fuel opportunity costs. This article shows that dispatching power units based on fuel opportunity costs can… Marie Petitet Felder, Frank Elshurafa, Amro
Trends in Global Solar PV Installation in 2022 Amro Elshurafa We briefly comment on global solar PV installations for 2022, and provide insights on the record-breaking trend that this industry has been witnessing for the past 15 years. Elshurafa, Amro
Electricity Sector Transitions Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Deployment of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage Pathways (BECCS) Globally Muhammad Adnan Hayat, Khalid Alhadhrami, Amro Elshurafa Countries are exploring various options to achieve net-zero emissions, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), which is the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) from processes that utilize bioenergy to produce heat, electricity or biofuels. However,… Adnan Hayat, Muhammad Alhadhrami, Khalid Elshurafa, Amro
Future of Transport and Fuel Demand How Can the European Energy Crisis Reshape the Power Sector Reform Endeavors of GCC Countries? Marie Petitet, Amro Elshurafa, Frank Felder Energy prices in Europe have been soaring, and policymakers are trying to find solutions to immediately contain the energy prices for end-consumers and to enhance the market design in the longer term. This paper discusses some of the current events… Marie Petitet Elshurafa, Amro Felder, Frank
Electricity Sector Transitions Modeling of the Interconnected Middle East and North Africa Electricity System: Including Uncertainties to Better Inform Policymakers Frank Felder, Marie Petitet, Shahid Hasan, Amro Elshurafa The modeling of power systems can bring about insightful quantitative results to inform policymakers. This commentary reviews the literature on modeling the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s electricity interconnections and trade in the context of expanding variable and… Felder, Frank Marie Petitet Hasan, Shahid Elshurafa, Amro
Models, Data and Tools Macroeconomic, Energy and Emission Effects of Solar PV Deployment at Utility and Distributed Scales in Saudi Arabia Amro Elshurafa, Fakhri Hasanov, Lester C. Hunt This study assesses the macroeconomic, energy and emissions impacts of solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the period 2021–2030. This is accomplished by linking an energy and environmental sector augmented macroeconometric model with a power… Elshurafa, Amro Hasanov, Fakhri Hunt, Lester C.
Electricity Sector Transitions An Overview of Integration Costs of Variable Renewables in the Power Sector Faris Aljamed, Frank Felder, Amro Elshurafa In recent years, the cost of electricity generated by renewables has significantly decreased to the point where it is cost competitive with conventional plants. However, incorporating variable renewable energy (VRE) technologies like wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) into the power… Aljamed, Faris Felder, Frank Elshurafa, Amro
How Firm Capacity and Forced Outage Rate Assumptions of Renewables Impact Capacity Expansion Model Results Amro Elshurafa, Marie Petitet, Frank Felder We assess how varying the firm capacity (FC) and forced outage rate (FOR) assumptions of renewable energy (RE) resources impact capacity expansion models (CEM). Eight scenarios that vary the FC and FOR, RE share targets, and annual RE uptake were… Elshurafa, Amro Marie Petitet Felder, Frank
Modeling Cross-seasonal Fuel Savings From Load Shifting in the Saudi Industrial Sector and Interlinkages to Export Revenues Science Direct Salaheddine Soummane, Amro Elshurafa, Hatem Al Atawi, Frank Felder
Electricity Sector Transitions How Firm Capacity and Forced Outage Rate Assumptions of Renewables Impact Capacity Expansion Model Results Amro Elshurafa, Marie Petitet, Frank Felder The undergoing energy transition relies heavily on the deployment of renewables such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power for the generation of electricity. These variable and intermittent resources would modify power systems’ reliability compared to the situation where electricity… Elshurafa, Amro Marie Petitet Felder, Frank
Electricity Sector Transitions Cost, Footprint, and Reliability Implications of Deploying Hydrogen in Off-grid Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: A GIS-assisted Study for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Amro Elshurafa, Abdelrahman Muhsen, Frank Felder We quantify the cost, footprint and reliability implications of using hydrogen in off-grid electric vehicle charging stations (CS) using an optimization model coupled with a geographical information system (GIS) analysis for the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We also account… Elshurafa, Amro Muhsen, Abdelrahman Felder, Frank
Electricity Sector Transitions Trends in Global Solar PV Installation in 2021 Amro Elshurafa In 2021, global solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity increased by a record 175 gigawatts (GW). This brought the total global cumulative installed PV capacity to around 942 GW at the end of 2021. Elshurafa, Amro
Cost, Footprint, and Reliability Implications of Deploying Hydrogen in Off-grid Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: A GIS-assisted Study for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Science Direct Amro Elshurafa, Abdelrahman Muhsen, Frank Felder
