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Saving money and the planet with solar leasing

Saving money and the planet with solar leasing

Saving money and the planet with solar leasing
The Bahrain Mall's solar project produces 10 million KWH of clean energy yearly. (YellowDoorEnery photo)
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In recent years, Ƶ has stepped up its pursuit of a cleaner, greener tomorrow, positioning itself as a global energy leader championing climate action.

Under the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives, the Kingdom is implementing more than 80 projects in the public and private sectors with investments worth more than SR705 billion ($188 billion) to build a more sustainable future for all.

Furthermore, COP16 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification will be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh in December.

Another important step is Ƶ’s intention to reach net-zero by 2060, which requires an annual emission reduction of 278 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.

To achieve this goal, the Kingdom is targeting 130 GW of renewable energy production capacity by 2030, increasing its share in the energy mix to 50 percent.

Tapping into its immense solar power potential, the country more than doubled its renewable energy capacity last year from 700 MW in 2022 to more than 2.2 GW.

With the growing importance of solar, companies are looking for innovative ways to switch to clean energy while reducing their electricity costs.

Solar leasing, also known as a solar power purchase agreement, or PPA, is the preferred option among multinational companies and large family-owned businesses. This solution is now widely available through leading sustainable energy developers in Ƶ.

With a solar lease, companies can enjoy immediate savings with no upfront investment, while focusing on their core business and transferring the entire construction and operational risk to developers such as Yellow Door Energy.

The savings can be substantial, significantly reducing operating costs.

Solar leasing offers a cost-effective way to adopt renewable energy, lowering operational costs and enhancing an organization’s green credentials without the burden of initial capital investment.

Khaled Chebaro

With diesel pricing going up, businesses are looking to solar leasing to reduce diesel consumption and reliance on diesel generators.

Additionally, the widespread adoption of solar leasing can enhance energy grid stability and resilience by diversifying the energy supply and reducing peak demand pressures.

Solar leasing offers a cost-effective way to adopt renewable energy, lowering operational costs and enhancing an organization’s green credentials without the burden of initial capital investment.

In addition to the cost savings, this approach is hassle-free, as the operations and maintenance are entrusted to an expert with a proven track record.

Yellow Door Energy has more than 90 customers and 240 MW of awarded solar projects in Ƶ, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Jordan and South Africa.

The company implements strict health and safety standards on all its 100-plus project sites and has a robust sustainable energy asset management system to live-monitor all its operating projects and maximize clean energy production.

With its desert climate, characterized by high temperatures and water scarcity, Ƶ faces several environmental challenges, including desertification and land degradation. The country is also highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change.

Innovative technologies, such as solar PV, combined with the solar lease financing solution, along with traditional efforts such as land restoration, are an integral part of a holistic approach to environmental protection, climate action and achieving the Kingdom’s net zero 2060 target.

Additionally, the expansion of solar leasing can drive job creation and economic growth in the renewable energy sector, supporting overall national development.

In summary, with the Saudi government drafting regulations to advance a just energy transition, the Kingdom’s companies have a prime opportunity to amplify their contributions to a more sustainable future through the adoption of renewable energy solutions.

Khaled Chebaro is the Ƶ country director at Yellow Door Energy
 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Ƶ condemns attacks by ‘outlaw groups’ in Syria 

Ƶ condemns attacks by ‘outlaw groups’ in Syria 
Updated 4 min 45 sec ago

Ƶ condemns attacks by ‘outlaw groups’ in Syria 

Ƶ condemns attacks by ‘outlaw groups’ in Syria 

RIYADH: Ƶ has condemned the targeting of security forces and crimes by “outlaw groups” in Syria, a foreign ministry said early Friday. 

“The Kingdom affirms its support for the Syrian government in its efforts to maintain security and stability and preserve civil peace,” the statement concluded.


SpaceX's latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion

SpaceX's latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion
Updated 11 min 19 sec ago

SpaceX's latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion

SpaceX's latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft's self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.
Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly" during the ascent engine firing. "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement posted online.
Starship didn't make it quite as high or as far as last time.
NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.
Like last time, Starship had mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.
Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.
During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.
According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.

Trump casts doubt on NATO solidarity, despite it aiding the US after Sept. 11

Trump casts doubt on NATO solidarity, despite it aiding the US after Sept. 11
Updated 22 min 57 sec ago

Trump casts doubt on NATO solidarity, despite it aiding the US after Sept. 11

Trump casts doubt on NATO solidarity, despite it aiding the US after Sept. 11
  • Trump also suggested that the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don’t meet defense spending targets
  • Last year, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a record 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations had hit the military alliance’s defense spending target

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the US’s defense if the country were attacked, though the alliance did just that after Sept. 11 — the only time in its history that the defense guarantee has been invoked.
Trump also suggested that the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don’t meet defense spending targets, a day after his pick for NATO ambassador assured senators that the administration’s commitment to the military alliance was “ironclad.”
Trump’s comments denigrating NATO, which was formed to counter Soviet aggression during the Cold War, are largely in line with his yearslong criticism of the alliance, which he has accused of not paying its fair share toward the cost of defense. But they come at a time of heightened concern in the Western world over Trump’s cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long seen NATO as a threat, and as the US president seeks to pressure Ukraine into agreeing to a peace deal with the country that invaded it three years ago.

US President Donald Trump reacts at the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on March 6, 2025. (REUTERS)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent the alliance into upheaval last month when he said in a speech that the US would not participate in any peacekeeping force in Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, and would not defend any country that participated in it if attacked by Russia.
Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office that other countries would not come to the defense of the US — though they have done exactly that, in the only instance that the Article 5 defense guarantee was invoked.
“You know the biggest problem I have with NATO? I really, I mean, I know the guys very well. They’re friends of mine. But if the United States was in trouble, and we called them, we said, ‘We got a problem, France. We got a problem, couple of others I won’t mention. Do you think they’re going to come and protect us?’ They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure.”
Article 5 was invoked after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, leading to NATO’s largest operation in Afghanistan. France’s military participated in the operation.
“We are loyal and faithful allies,” French President Emmanuel Macron responded Thursday, expressing “respect and friendship” toward US leaders.
“I think we’re entitled to expect the same,” he said.
Macron invoked “centuries-old history,” namechecking the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, who was a major-general in the American Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and Gen. John Pershing, commander of the American army in France during World War I. Macron added that a few days ago, he met American World War II veterans who landed on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France.
France and the US “have always been there for each other,” Macron said.

France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he addresses the media during a press conference in Brussels on March 6, 2025, to discuss continued support for Ukraine and European defense. (AFP)

When asked Thursday if it he was making it US policy that the US would not defend NATO countries that don’t meet military spending targets, Trump said, “well, I think it’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them.”
Trump has suggested since his 2016 presidential campaign that the US under his leadership might not comply with the alliance’s mutual defense guarantees and would only defend countries that met targets to commit 2 percent of their gross domestic products on military spending.
The US is the most powerful nation of the seven-decade alliance, has the largest economy among members and spends more on defense than any other member.
The US was one of 12 nations that formed NATO following World War II to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union to Western European during the Cold War. Its membership has since grown to 32 countries, and its bedrock mutual defense guarantee, known as Article 5, states that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
Trump on Thursday also seemed to suggest the US commitment to NATO might be leveraged in his trade war as he seeks to target what he says are unfair trade policies with other nations, including the European Union.
“I view NATO as potentially good, but you’ve got to get, you’ve got to get some good thinking in NATO. It’s very unfair, what’s been happening,” Trump said. “Until I came along, we were paying close to 100 percent of NATO. So think of it, we’re paying 100 percent of their military, and they’re screwing us on trade.”
On Wednesday, Trump’s choice for NATO ambassador, Matt Whitaker, said at his confirmation hearing that in regards to the US commitment to the NATO alliance and specifically Article 5, “It will be ironclad.”
Last year, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a record 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations had hit the military alliance’s defense spending target.
Trump has taken credit for countries meeting those targets because of his threats, and Stoltenberg himself has said Trump was responsible for getting other nations to increase their spending.
 


Saudi FM participates in GCC-Jordan ministerial meeting

Saudi FM participates in GCC-Jordan ministerial meeting
Updated 07 March 2025

Saudi FM participates in GCC-Jordan ministerial meeting

Saudi FM participates in GCC-Jordan ministerial meeting

RIYADH: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan participated on Thursday in the seventh GCC-Jordan joint ministerial meeting of foreign ministers in Makkah, the Saudi Press Agency said.

The meeting discussed regional issues including the Palestinian cause and the efforts made to achieve regional security and stability.

It also tackled ways of boosting GCC-Jordanian relations and supporting partnerships.

The meeting was headed by Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya.


Hegseth dismisses as “garbage” critique of US stance on Russia

Hegseth dismisses as “garbage” critique of US stance on Russia
Updated 07 March 2025

Hegseth dismisses as “garbage” critique of US stance on Russia

Hegseth dismisses as “garbage” critique of US stance on Russia

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday dismissed as “garbage” accusations that Washington had taken a pro-Russia stance, saying President Donald Trump was pursuing a peaceful end to Russia’s three-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
Trump has piled pressure on Ukraine, pausing all US military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv, as his administration pushes for a negotiated solution to the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
Trump and his advisers, including Hegseth, have also declined to brand Russia as the aggressor.
“The press is interested in narratives. Our president is interested in peace. So we will get characterized one way or another: ‘Oh, your stance is pro-Russia or pro-’ ... it’s all garbage,” Hegseth told reporters.
“The President got elected to bring peace in this conflict, and he is working with both sides in a way that only President Trump can ... to bring them to the table to end the killing.”
Hegseth spoke alongside British Defense Secretary John Healey, who aimed to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine during a meeting at the Pentagon on Thursday.
“It’s the detail of those discussions which are rightly behind the scenes that the defense secretary and I will now pursue this afternoon,” Healey said.
Over the weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Trump’s “common sense” aim to end the war, while accusing European powers which have rallied around Kyiv of seeking to prolong the conflict.
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had acrimonious talks at the White House on February 28 but since then the two sides have resumed work on a revenue-sharing minerals deal.
At his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump said he had received a letter from Zelensky in which the Ukrainian leader said he was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Thursday he is in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end hostilities with Russia and that a meeting is planned next week with the Ukrainians in Ƶ.
“We’re now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians,” Witkoff told reporters at the White House. He said it would likely be in Riyadh or Jeddah.