Strong economic growth and high energy demand are driving GCC interest in alternative energy, according to BP.

With real annual growth rates estimated by the IMF at seven per cent across the GCC in recent years – a trend largely expected to continue for the foreseeable future – the countries of the region will need to satisfy increased demand for energy as they embark on ambitious residential, commercial and large-scale, energy intensive, industrial projects such as petrochemicals and aluminium smelters.
“Rates of economic growth in the GCC are now so high that some countries may face difficulties in providing enough gas to meet the growing demands of  the residential, industrial and power generation sectors, or the need for feedstock to grow the downstream base,” said Steve Peacock, president, BP Middle East and South Asia.
“Alternative energies such as solar, wind and bio-fuels are unlikely to replace oil and gas entirely and governments will have to continue to invest in conventional forms of energy in order to meet rising demand.  Nevertheless, alternative energy can help meet at least a part of the rising demand and we expect there will be an increasing focus on this field over the coming years.”
One area where BP sees intriguing potential in the GCC is in hydrogen power in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS), which works by taking any fossil fuel as an input and splitting it into its hydrogen and carbon dioxide components, the company said in a statement. 
The hydrogen is then burned in a power station to generate clean electricity with only water as a by-product.  The carbon dioxide is then re-injected into oil reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery, freeing up conventional gas that is used for those purposes today, it added.
BP, which has a dedicated Alternative Energy Division that plans to invest up to $8 billion globally by 2015, is, together with its partners, already pioneering the introduction of low carbon and renewable energy in the Middle East and North Africa, the company said.
The world’s first industrial scale carbon dioxide capture project at a gas field is being led by BP at In Salah in Algeria, where the removal of carbon dioxide from extracted natural gas currently amounts to taking 250,000 cars off the road. The carbon dioxide is reinjected into a sandstone reservoir where it is permanently stored. In the UAE, BP is a founding partner of the Masdar alternative energy initative in Abu Dhabi and is currently exploring areas for cooperation in the low carbon space including hydrogen power.
BP showcased its hydrogen, CCS and alternative energy technologies at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi. BP was a platinum sponsor of the event at which Vivienne Cox, the head of the company’s Alternative Energy Division, gave a keynote address. In addition, Iain Wright, carbon capture and storage project manager with BP Alternative Energy, presented a paper on Carbon Capture & Storage – Possibilities and Projects.