The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) presented its Financing the Future of Energy Report at the Global Financial Markets Forum currently underway in Abu Dhabi. It concluded that growing energy demand would require $48 trillion in investment over the next 20 years to close the energy demand and supply gap.

Crucially for the renewable energy industry, the NBAD report concludes that solar PV will play a key role in meeting this energy demand due to its increasingly cost-competitive nature, with recent tender prices from the Gulf Region forming a new benchmark.

The future gap in energy demand and supply presents a real opportunity for the banking sector and the Financing the Future of Energy Report marks the start of a strategy to learn, collaborate more and to make a real contribution to helping this region meet its own energy challenges, said NBAD CEO Alex Thursby in presenting the report. Thursby noted that the emerging super region, across the West-East Corridor from Africa through the MENA and to Asia would be a key area for energy demand growth. He also noted that the Gulf States are well positioned to supply these markets with financing solutions.

At NBAD we want to understand better what the real drivers are so we can respond to them effectively and be a positive force, accelerating the transition to a much needed new world of energy, said Thursby. The NBAD has established a new team under senior management to evaluate and create new financial products to support renewable energy development.