Above the yellow sand, photovoltaic panel arrays spread out like a blue ocean, and the criss crossing silver wires are quietly rewriting the energy narrative of the desert. As the blueprint for the 2030 vision unfolds on the land of the Middle East and North Africa, a wave of infrastructure driven by new energy and interconnected power grids is reshaping the industrial backbone of this ancient land.

With the steady implementation of energy transformation and economic diversification strategies, a wave of investment in power infrastructure construction has swept across the Middle East and North Africa region. Faced with the complex and ever-changing global geopolitical and macroeconomic situation, the region is deeply engaged in the development of new energy, interconnection of power grids, and large-scale infrastructure construction, continuously breaking records in electricity investment, empowering industrial upgrading with energy security, and building a solid foundation for long-term regional economic development.

Ten years of investment scale climbing

Data shows that from 2016 to April 2026, the cumulative signed amount of power projects in 14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa reached 315.7 billion US dollars, with an average annual signing scale of 28.7 billion US dollars. The industry market volume is steadily expanding, with a signing amount of about 12.8 billion US dollars in 2016, rising to over 80 billion US dollars in 2024, setting a new historical high, and falling back to around 66.9 billion US dollars in 2025. The expected signing amount in 2026 is about 10.4 billion US dollars. The regional market pattern is clear, with Saudi Arabia firmly ranking first with a contract value of over 135.2 billion US dollars, leading the region in market share; The United Arab Emirates ranks second with 49.7 billion US dollars. After a slight adjustment in 2018-2019, regional power investment has continued to recover since 2020 and entered a high-speed growth stage from 2023 to 2024. Power infrastructure has become the core lever for economic transformation in various countries.

Continuous optimization of investment track

From the perspective of investment structure, power generation projects are the core mainstay of regional power investment, with a cumulative signed amount of up to 215.2 billion US dollars, occupying a dominant market position; The signing amount of the transmission project is 100.5 billion US dollars. Although the overall volume is relatively small, the investment growth rate has significantly increased in recent years due to the promotion of cross-border power grid engineering construction. In the process of energy transformation, the Middle East and North Africa region continues to build low-cost and large-scale photovoltaic and wind power projects, constantly breaking the global record for new energy construction. At the same time, it accelerates the layout of cross-border power grid interconnection, effectively improving the efficiency of regional power allocation and energy security guarantee capabilities. Keywords: power investment, energy transformation, new energy

Regional market vitality is highlighted

Population growth, industrialization advancement, and the rise of emerging industries continue to boost regional electricity consumption demand, forcing continuous expansion of power infrastructure investment. In 2024, Saudi Arabia's installed power capacity will approach 121.4GW, ranking first in the region; The installed capacity of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates reached 63.5GW and 45.5GW respectively. The Moroccan market is growing rapidly, with an installed capacity growth rate of 7.4% from 2023 to 2024, making it the fastest growing country in the region. Relying on national development strategies such as the 2030 Vision, countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Morocco continue to increase investment in new energy, smart grids, and energy storage. The current regional power industry is accelerating its transformation and upgrading, shifting from traditional thermal power construction to the coordinated development of new energy, smart grids, and regional interconnectivity. In the future, it will remain one of the most active core regions for global energy infrastructure investment.Editor/Gong Ziwei