Dii Desert Energy news

The war in the Middle East had some dramatic short term effects, e.g. with another energy crisis in different parts of the world or severe supply chain disruptions.

The IPO of SpaceX in June 2026 was an extraordinary success, attracting unparalleled interest from investors and the broader public alike.

We are now 3 months into the Iran conflict, and the global economy is paying a heavy price.

The IEA’s Global Hydrogen Review 2026 Report is one of the most authoritative global references on the evolution of hydrogen markets, providing a comprehensive assessment of production, demand, policy, infrastructure, trade, investment, and innovation.

As we prepare for the upcoming 16th Dii Desert Energy Leadership Summit in Istanbul from 29 September to 1 October 2026, we are currently working on a comprehensive study that maps out a strategic roadmap for Türkiye to meet its 2035 renewable targets.

The current geopolitical storm will certainly put more focus on energy resilience, and renewable energy’s middle name is resilience. But resilience also exists in a market environment and economics always matter. 

When I went to High school in the sixties (!) in the Netherlands, a young football player emerged from the, then, victorious Ajax team. I have no idea if you remember him or have heard of him, but he finally made it to the top-5 star players of all times, after Messi, Pelé, Maradona and Ronaldo!

At the end of last year, we published a joint report with our Lead Partner INNIO highlighting how data centers can act as “super offtakers” for de-risking giga-scale renewable projects and help accelerating the hydrogen market in the Middle East. However, the recent drone disruptions to cloud infrastructure in the Gulf have shifted the conversation from just lower emission solutions to physical resilience. 

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has shaken global energy markets. Oil and gas flows have been disrupted, prices have jumped, and supply routes are under threat. But instead of slowing down the global energy transition, these events show why the world must accelerate it.

This year’s traditional Dii Iftar in the Tagine could not have had a luckier timing: Thursday, 26th February. We will for sure remember our talks and the pleasant time together, 1.5 days before the terrible war broke out in the Gulf. Sometimes I wish we could turn back time…