Middle East’s Solar Energy Growth

The Middle East’s solar energy market is growing at a rapid pace, driven by massive utility-scale projects, with installed capacity expected to grow from 27 GW in 2025 to over 74.75 GW by 2031.

Globally, electricity consumption continued to rise by around 3%, well over twice the rate of overall energy demand growth – with solar PV becoming the largest contributor to growth in global energy supply, according to a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report.

Solar PV accounted for more than 25% of the increase in global energy supply in 2025 and this is the first time on record that a modern renewable source has led global primary energy supply growth.

The Middle East is establishing itself as a strategic market for renewable energy investment, which totaled $12.9 billion in 2025, up from $10.1 billion in 2024. The region's integrated delivery approach – building renewables and transmission infrastructure in parallel rather than sequentially – leverages sovereign capital and streamlined regulatory frameworks to accelerate deployment at scale.

Variable renewable electricity generation in the Middle East region is set to grow 14-fold by 2040, according to the Energy Transition Outlook Report 2026. This will be mostly driven by mega projects in solar and solar-plus-storage. In the next 15 years, MENA region will together account for 860 GW of solar PV installations.

Saudi Arabia is now among the world’s top 10 investors in renewable energy for the first time in 2025 as it pushes ahead with plans to expand the share of renewables to 50% of its total energy use. Investments in renewable energy projects in this largest Arab economy leapt by nearly 70% year-on-year to peak at around $34 billion in 2025.

Saudi Arabia Solar Energy Market size in 2026 is estimated at 13.47 GW, growing from 10.25 GW in 2025, with 2031 projections showing 52.72 GW, growing at 31.40% CAGR over 2026-2031, according to the Mordor Intelligence report.

The UAE ranks second in cumulative capacity and accelerates dispatchable solar through Masdar’s 5.2 GW PV-plus-19 GWh battery complex, targeting 1 GW firm output by 2027.

Oman and Qatar recorded the fastest renewable energy growth rates in the GCC in 2025, with both countries more than doubling installed capacity on the back of large-scale solar PV deployments, according to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report.

Oman’s renewable capacity rose by 138.5% in 2025 and was entirely driven by solar PV, which expanded from 672 MW to 1,672 MW during the year. Qatar posted a similarly strong expansion, with total renewable capacity increasing by 106.2% in 2025 and Solar PV accounted for all new capacity, rising by 875 MW to reach 1,680 MW.

Wood Mackenzie estimates that approximately 110 GW of solar capacity in the Middle East is currently in execution or various stages of development, creating a stable offtake pipeline for the region’s solar power market.

Editor