Sustainability and environment

A GCC country was undergoing an energy price reform that would lead to increasing electricity costs, while the power sector was transitioning towards replacing liquid-based generation with gas and renewable energy. Strategy& was retained to assist in the implementation of the country’s reform by providing recommendations for efficient deployment of resources and introduction of renewable energy.

To identify efficiency opportunities, the Strategy& team baselined the cost structure of electricity and was able to identify opportunities for improvements in dispatch, reduction in T&D losses, reduction in headcount, and fuel efficiency. In addition, the team developed multiple long-term capacity and generation mixes that would accommodate infrastructure and policy constraints.

Strategy& was able to deliver projections of short and long-term cost savings of electricity, and an “Optimal Energy Mix”, which reduced carbon emissions by half while lowering the cost of electricity and ensuring system reliability. The team’s recommendations are currently being implemented in the country’s national strategy.

Strategy& was retained by a GCC country looking to develop its renewable energy sector through the establishment of a centralized governmental body. The team was asked to support the development of the new office and to advise on what segments of the wind and solar PV manufacturing chain could be localized.

To deliver accurate recommendations, Strategy& conducted in-depth interviews, workshops, and working sessions with energy sector stakeholders to design the operating model for an integrated policy and planning function. To identify opportunities for manufacturing localization, the Strategy& team visited industrial cities across the country and collected information pertaining to infrastructure readiness — and then prioritized the cities through a comprehensive evaluation.

As a result of Strategy&’s engagement, a new office was established with 60 staff members and two industrial cities were shortlisted to host each of the solar and wind manufacturing clusters. Accordingly, the country will be able to source a total of 9 GW of renewable capacity by 2024.

In an effort to preserve the country’s natural endowments and promote increased tourism, the government in a GCC country announced the establishment of a number of national “crown-jewel” nature reserves which would be open to the public. Strategy& was asked to develop the concept and business plan for two of the reserves.

To tackle the project, the Strategy& team conducted a current state assessment and identified key development opportunities and restraints. This allowed the team to apply a pioneering approach in Integrated Landscape Management (ILM), developing a clustering scheme that reflected different conservation requirements. The learnings from the exercise became a pivotal element in creating a five-year strategy for the project.

Strategy& helped the country launch the “Royal Nature Reserves” initiative, covering the area of a medium-sized European country. The project aims to attract more than 400,000 visitors per year to the two natural reserves, and will involve infrastructure investments of US$350 million by the year 2030.