MENA Sustainable ELECtricity Trajectories
 

The countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have long been relying on fossil resources to satisfy their energy demand. However, the current as well as projected significant and steady increase in energy demand means that it can no longer be met by the current sector infrastructure. Governments across the region have reacted by rolling out plans for a comprehensive transformation of the energy sector, including most prominently the promotion of renewable energies like solar and wind and by reshaping investment and governance policies, cutting back the extended subsidy system. The sector-aligned reforms will have significant impacts on the population’s livelihoods not only in terms of increasing price levels for electricity, but also in a broader perspective of socio-economic development, socio-political order as well as the sustainable use of resources. These foreseeable impacts play a vital role in the light of socio-political dynamics in the MENA-region that have taken place since 2011. This urges national policymakers to effectively respond to societal challenges in the framework of comprehensive policies.
The objective of the research project is to inform national decision-makers and debate on pathways for sustainable energy policies.
In a participatory approach with local stakeholders and together with its partner institutes, BICC investigates the socio-economic impacts, risks and opportunities as well as the potential for conflict of different energy scenarios and power production technologies in Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia. The aims are three-fold:

• To assess the extent in which different electricity generation technologies contribute to national energy and development objectives as well as local conflict sensitivity.
• To develop consistent, balanced and accepted scenarios for each of the countries’ electricity future until 2050.
• To provide capacity building for training on open-source electricity modelling software. This is hoped to allow the project’ impact to continue beyond the project’s duration by anchoring local ownership in the targeted countries.