Prices for benchmark Brent crude have slumped 52% this year, falling far below levels that most governments in the region need to balance their budgets. The coronavirus, meanwhile, is delaying the construction of solar facilities in Abu Dhabi, Jordan and Qatar, and many of these projects will “spill over into next year.
DUBAI: Some of the Middle East’s biggest oil producers are pushing into solar energy even amid the rout in crude prices.
Cheap crude used to deter investment in renewable energy in countries that depend on oil sales for revenue. Today, solar projects cost only about a 10th of what they did a decade ago, thanks to more affordable equipment and better technology, according to research by BloombergNEF.
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