Renewable Energies, Renewed Authoritarianisms? The Political Economy of Solar Energy in the MENA

Countries throughout the MENA are pursuing ambitious targets for a transition from fossil fuels to renewables. While the latter’s distributed nature offers a possibility for more democratic, inclusive and independent (energy) politics, transregionally connected authoritarian elites attempt to transform it into concentrated forms of political and economic power. Focusing on efforts at transregional electricity grid integration between the EU and the MENA, and on the rapid expansion, but then sudden halt of renewable energy projects in Jordan, this presentation explores how efforts at energy transition reshape established authoritarian practices.