Dubai, UAE: A news article in the Gulf News website has said that investments in the renewable energy sector in the Middle East and Africa region increased in 2016, attracting nearly AED 31.9 billion worth of investments.

The article is based on a report released by Ernst & Young (EY), which said that after a period of slow growth, the sector is on an upward trend with investments dominating in power and utility transactions in the previous year.

According to the article, major investment announcement in the sector, including the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development’s plan to set up a desalination plant in Egypt, the 800-MW Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar PV Phase III in the UAE, Saudi Arabia’s multiple tenders to boost solar capacity in the region and Dubai’s initiative of USD 27 billion green fund to support global sustainability projects, are the primary reasons behind the growth. Additionally, a slew of projects in the field of coal, nuclear and solar energy in the UAE, increased the renewable energy target from 24% to 26%, said the article.

Commenting on the development, David Lloyd, Middle East Power and Utilities Transactions Leader at EY, was quoted by the news article as saying, “The focus in 2017 will be very much on the KSA renewable energy programme, now that this has been launched by the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, and on potential investment opportunities from the Saudi Electricity Company’s unbundling into four generation companies.”