Energy Transition Towards Strategic, Sustainable, and Diversified Renewable Technologies in Yemen
The electricity sector in Yemen remains underdeveloped, aggravated by the recent war. Addressing the sector's challenges necessitates strategic planning to identify efficient, diverse, and sustainable power sources. This study fills a critical gap by delivering an in-depth, data-driven analysis of Yemen’s energy shortcomings, proposing realistic, efficient solutions based on successful examples from neighboring countries, and linking solutions to the latest technological advancements. Results highlight a substantial decline in capital and generation costs of large-scale solar PV systems, with investment costs falling 25–30% and electricity prices reaching $0.01–0.02/kWh, nearly 50% lower than projects developed 5–7 years ago. Despite policy and investment variations, solar PV remains economically competitive across all capacities, while integrating large-scale energy storage into these projects, at an additional cost of about 30%, enhances system reliability and economy. Key finding indicates that the public electricity grid has been recently integrated with a 120 MW solar PV plant in Aden and several medium-size (10–50 MW) projects across southern and eastern provinces, marking a pivotal shift toward renewable energy (RE) deployment. The study uses Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to inform decision making and analysis, proposing both emergency and long-term strategic solutions for Yemen’s energy sector. Emergency measures suggest efficient rehabilitation of the national grid, associated with the rapid establishment of large-scale solar PV and wind power plants at strategically selected locations nationwide. The strategic framework further recommends investing in geothermal and biomass energy projects while expanding reliance on solar and wind energy resources, ensuring a sustainable and diversified energy portfolio for the country. This study emphasized that energy generation from hydro-power and hydrogen sources is deemed currently unfeasible for Yemen.