The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working on its ambitious Masdar Initiative, which will be the first zero-carbon city in the world and will act as a centre for renewable energy research. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has stepped up its renewable energy research, testing new technologies in KAUST’s New Energy Oasis (NEO).

Now, Qatar has announced that the Qatar Science and Technology Park’s (QSTP) Solar Test facility should be up and running within this year. Similar to KAUST’s approach, the facility will be used to test different renewable energy technologies within the climate of Qatar to determine what is the best combination for Qatar’s energy future.

“The question is how much they cost compared to the alternatives. That is the real challenge to understand. The cost in general and in solar specifically, have gone down dramatically for the last two years, especially in photovoltaic. So we will try to see and understand the cost on the ground with the type of technology that exist and try to understand what the costs are,” said Omran Hamad Al Kuwari, GreenGulf CEO, according to The Peninsula.

Several Arab States have already set ambitious renewable energy targets. The UAE plans to have 7% of its energy generated from renewable sources by 2020. Egypt has set an whooping 20% target (although most experts agree the country is highly unlikely to meet this target).

Kuwari, however, has stressed that Qatar will continue to focus on gas as the primary source of energy for the small state. Qatar is one of the richest countries in gas reserves.

However, as in other Gulf States, the main driver of investing in renewable energy is to save their fossil fuels deposit, since exporting them is their main source of income.