Good morning, ladies and gents. The news cycle shows no signs of slowing, with news emerging from UAE and Egypt’s solar sector and an update from Neom. But first, let’s check in on Beryl’s battering of the US coast.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Tropical Storm Beryl’s path of destruction continues through Texas: Tropical storm Beryl has caused three fatalities and knocked out power to over 2.7 mn homes and businesses in Southeast Texas. The storm has caused the cancellation of over 1.3k flights and closed some of the US’s largest seaports including the nation’s top crude oil export hub in Corpus Christi. Beryl — the season's earliest Category 5 hurricane on record — weakened from a hurricane after causing dangerous storm surges in the Texan town of Matagorda before moving across Houston, the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm will likely weaken significantly as it moves inland and state officials have yet to assess the economic damage racked up by the storm’s impact.

The story continues to make wide coverage in the int’l press: Reuters | AP | The Guardian | CNN | CBS | The Washington Post | The Wall Street Journal | The New York Times | CNBC

ALSO GRABBING HEADLINES- The world is once again on track for its hottest year on record. Each of the past 12 months have surpassed the 1.5 °C threshold above pre-industrial averages, reaching an average of 1.64 °C. June was the 13th consecutive month to hit its hottest temperatures. The incoming La Nina weather circulation is expected to cool down temperatures but the broken records are an indication that the climate system is warming up fast. The story grabbed ink in Reuters, AP, The Financial Times, and Bloomberg.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Egypt to connect 700 MW of solar to grid by end of August: Egypt will add 700 MW of solar energy to the national grid by the end of August, sources from the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity told Al Arabiya. The energy will come from the 200 MW Kom Ombo project and the 500 MW Abydos project in Aswan. The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company signed a 25 year power purchase agreement for the projects.

The details: Saudi renewables giant Acwa Power’s USD 168 mn, 200 MW Kom Ombo solar farm was said to be ahead of schedule earlier this year, recently receiving the commercial operation certificate. It will generate enough power for about 130k households once fully operational and, according to Al Arabiya, at the lowest solar energy rate in Egypt to date at USD 0.0248 per kWh. The Abydos plant — developed by the UAE’s Al Nowais Group’s subsidiary Amea Power — is set to begin performance, operation, and grid connection tests within the next 3 weeks, Al Arabiya added, and will generate over 4k GWh annually at USD 0.02 per kWh.

They haven’t forgotten about wind energy: Another 1 GW of wind energy is also expected to be added to the national grid in 1Q 2025 from two 500 MW wind farms developed by Orascom and Amea Power, the sources added. Other projects will follow later.

Part of a bigger plan: Egypt’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry said it is allocating around USD 30 bn to integrate the expected 126 GW of new and renewable energy projects into the national electricity grid earlier this year. By 2040, Egypt is planning to add a total of 142 GW of renewable energy — 50% of its energy consumption — to its grid.

ALSO- Egypt issues tenders for Greece interconnection project: The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) has issued three tenders to select environmental, financial, and feasibility study consultants for the Egypt-Greece interconnector (GREGY) project, Youm7 reports, citing a press statement by newly-appointed Deputy Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Sabah Mashali. Egypt is moving forward with its plans to establish an electricity interconnection with Europe through links with both Greece and Italy, Mashaly — who also holds the position of CEO and Managing Director of the EETC — added.

REMEMBER- Egypt and Greece already have agreements in place: Egypt’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mohamed Shaker and Greece’s Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Alexandra Sdoukou recently reviewed progress of the planned 3 GW project which would see Egypt export its renewables surplus to mainland Greece. Infinity Power signed an agreement with Greece’s Copelouzos Group in May 2023 to carry out a feasibility study on the proposed 950-km link and as of July 2023, both countries had not secured the EUR 4 bn initial investment required for the project.

#2- KSA wants to source more lithium locally: Saudi’s Shura Council has called on the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry to study the feasibility of extracting lithium locally to keep pace with expected future demand for electric vehicles, SPA reports. The council also called on the ministry to outline solutions for an inventory of state-owned land that could be licensed to prospectors.

Why it matters: Lithium is a critical component of both modern consumer electronics and the green transition, factoring into everything from rechargeable batteries for phones and computers to electric vehicles and grid storage.

REMEMBER- Saudi is looking to source lithium from overseas: Saudi Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Al Khorayef said in April that the kingdom will continue to source lithium from abroad as part of its plans for the nascent EV sector as securing domestic supplies were still at an early stage. “Lithium is a very important mineral that happens to be part of a very important part of the supply chain, especially for batteries,” he said. Saudi companies and officials are looking at Chile and KSA could become home to a battery anode plant.

#3- PIF-backed Lucid beat analyst expectations for deliveries in 2Q 2024, saying it has delivered over 2.3k vehicles by the end of the quarter, according to a production update (pdf). The deliveries beat market analysts’ forecasts of 1.9k during the quarter, according to Reuters. Lucid also produced 2.1k vehicles during the quarter ending in June, it said. Its earnings for the quarter are set to follow on Monday, 5 August.

Zooming out: The update brings Lucid’s production to 3.8k units in 1H 2024, closer to its annual output target of 9k in 2024 if it produces over 5k vehicles. It made 8.4k vehicles last year. “I think at this point, everything is shaping for them to achieve that guidance,” Andres Sheppard, senior equity analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said. He sees the EV maker’s production and deliveries picking pace in 2H 2024 due to seasonal effects.

IN CONTEXT- The growth in deliveries comes as Lucid reaps fruit of price cuts of up to 10% earlier this year for its flagship Air sedans to help shore up demand as US appetite for EVs slumps. Lucid plans to ramp up its capex spending to about USD 1.5 bn as it launches production of the Gravity, invests in its Arizona facility, and builds out its plant in Saudi, Lucid CFO Gagan Dhingra told Reuters in May.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Saudi Arabia will host the Global EV & Mobility Tech Forum from Wednesday, 10 July to Thursday, 11 July in Riyadh. The forum will bring together international policymakers, institutions, NGOs, corporations, and companies to explore the future of green urban mobility, market trends, and the regulatory issues faced by the sector.

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.