Good morning, friends. It’s a relatively calm news day as we slide closer to the weekend, but there’s big moves happening on the EV front in Turkey as China positions itself in MENA markets to sidestep those pesky tariffs imposed by the US and EU. Let’s jump right in.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- There’s no single story dominating the headlines this morning, but one story getting some ink is China’s proposal to boost a higher capital ratio for solar PV projects to limit expansion and boost quality. The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a draft rule to increase the minimum capital ratio for new solar PV manufacturing projects to 30% — up from 20%. Registered companies already have to spend at least CNY 10 mn annually on R&D and process improvement — or at least 3% of overall sales — according to current guidelines.

What does this mean? The minimum capital ratio is the percentage of the firm’s core capital compared to its risk-weighted assets, meaning an increase would force firms to reallocate additional investment or expansion funds towards meeting the capital ratio. The move seeks to curb projects that merely expand capacity, instead pushing companies to improve quality and reduce production costs.

Lower supply could drive up solar panel prices: China’s solar panel makers have been at risk of plummeting panel prices due to a major oversaturation in production capacity fueled by years of subsidies and have been merging to withstand falling panel prices. The excess supply has caused a significant drop in prices of Chinese solar panels last year, making them over 60% cheaper than US-made ones. Reuters and Bloomberg picked up the story.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Global EV & Mobility Tech Forum will open its doors today in Riyadh and wrap tomorrow. The forum brings together international policymakers, institutions, NGOs, corporations, and companies to explore the future of green urban mobility, market trends, and regulatory issues to be tackled.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Oman eyes biogenic CCUS: Five Omani public sector organizations are teaming up to explore carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects that capture biogenic CO2 — a type of CO2 that comes from the combustion or decomposition of organic material, Oman Daily Observer reports. The project marks the first ever carbon capture project targeting biogenic CO2, which is not considered a greenhouse gas emission.

Who’s involved? The partnership is between the Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (Be’ah), Nama, Nama Dhofar Services, Marafiq, and OQ Alternative Energy, who will work together on a study that explores aims to quantify and assess the sources of biogenic CO2 and explore opportunities for its potential capture, use, and storage, Oman Daily Observer writes, citing Be’ah’s annual Sustainability Report.

This comes as part of efforts to reduce CO2 from the firm’s biowaste activities: Be’ah, Nama Water Services, and Nama Dhofar Services manage large volumes of biowaste linked to biogenic CO2 emissions, and are aiming to capture all types of CO2 related to their activities in efforts to mitigate climate change, according to the newspaper.

#2- Egypt aims to double green public investments to reach 55% of total public spending by 2026, Youm7 reports, citing comments made by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in an address to the House of Representatives. This comes in efforts to increase the contribution of the green economy to GDP. The strategy includes increasing private investments to 60-65% of total investments and raising the annual growth rate of foreign direct investments to about 14%. The government will also offer tax incentives and exemptions for local and foreign investments in targeted industries, and enhance the customs system to expedite clearance times, Madbouly said, adding that this will play a role in becoming a “global center for green hydrogen production by 2030.”

Egypt is on track: European firms inked a spate of agreements with Egyptian counterparts during the two-day Egypt-EU Investment Conference last month with renewable energy and green hydrogen in centre stage as the country plans to transform into a regional hub for green hydrogen production by 2026 and a global hub by 2030.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Egypt will host the Egypt Mining Forum from Tuesday, 16 July to Wednesday, 17 July in Cairo. The event will convene decision-makers from government, industry experts, new exploration firms, financiers, and investors to explore the challenges and advantages to establish Egypt as a leading global mining hub by 2040.

The UAE will host the World ESG Summit from Tuesday, 20 August to Wednesday, 21 August in Dubai. The summit will gather experts and industry leaders to explore new ways to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into business practices.

Turkey will host the International Conference on Clean and Green Energy Engineering from Saturday, 24 August to Monday, 26 August in Izmir. The event will gather researchers and professionals to share advances in clean energy. It will also offer a platform to discuss the latest research, practices, and applications in clean and green energy engineering.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.