The MENA Region is ripe for producing solar power, with an abundance of sunshine, low humidity, and large areas of unused flat land near road networks and transmission grids. 

To add to the physical conditions, the region’s market dynamics are favorable for large-scale investments in concentrated solar power. The International Energy Agency has identified concentrated solar power as one of the key technologies that are at the heart of the energy technology revolution, because they can make the largest contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

As with other new technologies, concentrated solar power has higher costs and higher risks than current technologies. The International Energy Agency emphasizes that “it is only through technology learning as a result of marketplace deployment that these costs are reduced and the product adapted to the market.” The greater the scale of such deployment, the earlier producers can commercialize the technology. To accelerate the global deployment of concentrated solar power, targeted schemes that provide positive incentives for their adoption at scale are needed. 

The CTF Investment Plan proposes CTF cofinancing of $750 million, which will mobilize an additional $4.4 billion from other sources, to expedite the global deployment of concentrated solar power through expansion programs in five MENA countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. These investments will constitute a dominant part of the countries’ strategies for deploying low-carbon technologies. They will also have the scale to shape the course of global market deployment of concentrated solar power, with broad environmental and economic benefits. 

The Investment Plan will help MENA contribute to global climate change mitigation with its unique geography. When implemented, the plan is expected to—

• Support the deployment of about one gigawatt of generation capacity, amounting to about 15 percent of the projected global pipeline and a twofold increase in the current global installed capacity,

• Leverage more than $4.8 billion in public and private investments for concentrated solar power plants, thereby more than doubling current global investments in concentrated solar power, and

• Support associated transmission infrastructure in the Maghreb and Mashreq for domestic supply and exports. The plan is part of the Mediterranean grid enhancement that will enable the scale-up of concentrated solar power through market integration in the region.

Expected Results: With CTF support, the MENA region will increase energy security, strengthen regional integration, and promote industrial growth and diversification by expediting the deployment of concentrated solar power.