Tripling Renewables in the Mediterranean:
A Path to Cooperation
By Karim Elgendy
Long a crossroads of trade, culture, and conflict, the Mediterranean is at a pivotal moment in its energy story, poised for a rapid expansion of renewable power. Accelerating the shift to renewables and tripling capacity across the region goes beyond a mere climate imperative; it is also a strategic opportunity to strengthen energy security and build cooperation among neighbors. In late 2024, nine Mediterranean countries pledged to make the region a renewable energy hub, aligning with the COP28 global goal to triple renewable capacity by 2030. If pursued collectively, this effort could transform this ancient sea from an arena of competition into a hub of transboundary collaboration.
The New Energy Ties That Bind
The potential is immense. Across the Mediterranean basin, renewable capacity already stood at nearly 300 gigawatts in 2022, accounting for roughly 43 percent of the region’s total generation capacity. The Eastern Mediterranean has the potential to generate 144 percent of its projected 2050 electricity demand from solar and wind power alone. Yet the challenge is related to the pace of transition. Meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal would require reaching one terawatt (TW) by 2030, a 3.6-fold increase that means installing roughly 97 GW of new capacity every year until the end of the decade; achieving it will depend not just on national action but on building cross-border links so clean power can move freely between markets.
Those links are beginning to take shape. The Italy-Tunisia ELMED project —a 600 MW link backed by the European Union and the World Bank—is scheduled for completion by 2027. The Great Sea Interconnector, a subsea cable linking Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, is expected to carry up to 2 GW of power by 2030. The Greece–Egypt Green Energy Interconnector will bring 3 GW of mainly solar and wind electricity from North Africa into the European grid. Across the Strait of Gibraltar, the Morocco-Spain interconnectors —two high-voltage cables with a combined capacity of 1.4 GW— already provide a tangible demonstration of their value. On 29 April 2024, when Spain faced partial blackouts, emergency imports from Morocco helped stabilize the grid and restore supply within hours, demonstrating how cross-border interconnections can transform potential crises into examples of resilience.
The Mediterranean stands at a crossroads: continue the fossil-fueled rivalries of the past, or harness the sun and wind that belong to no one—and everyone.
When Power Becomes Peace
Diplomatically, the energy transition offers a way to turn the Mediterranean’s history of resource disputes into a platform for sustained cooperation. Unlike oil and gas, which are finite, volatile in price, and geographically concentrated in ways that have often fueled geopolitical rivalries, sun and wind are abundant and widely distributed across the basin. This shared abundance lowers the stakes of competition and creates room for joint ventures, coordinated infrastructure planning, and cross-border power trading arrangements that deliver tangible benefits to all parties.
Because renewable energy systems depend on interconnected grids and constant operational coordination, they inherently foster regular contact between governments, utilities, and regulators, creating channels of communication that can remain open even when political relations are strained. The Morocco–Spain electricity trade is a case in point: despite periods of diplomatic friction, power continued to flow, providing a form of quiet diplomacy that is grounded in mutual interest. In this way, energy interdependence can serve as both an incentive for cooperation and a deterrent against escalation, since the costs of disrupting shared infrastructure are immediate and mutual. Over time, shared renewable infrastructure could function as a new “regional commons,” where the logic of cooperation steadily outweighs that of confrontation.
Finance is as important as technology in driving this transformation, not only in funding the smart grids, storage systems, and interconnectors needed to integrate renewable energy, but also in creating shared financial stakes that bind countries together. Multilateral investment funds with co-ownership from multiple Mediterranean states could embed economic interdependence into the region’s clean energy backbone. In such a model, countries with historical tensions would have a mutual interest in safeguarding shared assets, from a cross-border solar complex to a subsea cable. Blended finance structures that offer preferential terms for projects with cross-border components can make cooperation more profitable than working in isolation behind national borders, turning capital markets into an ally of regional stability.
The Choice Before Us
The stakes are high. Tripling renewable energy capacity in the Mediterranean by 2030 is both a climate necessity and a strategic opportunity. If the region’s leaders commit to building interconnections, aligning policies, and mobilizing investment, they can create a clean energy network that strengthens economies, improves resilience, and fosters stability.
The Mediterranean stands at a crossroads: continue the fossil-fueled rivalries of the past, or harness the sun and wind that belong to no one—and everyone. The choice made today will determine whether this ancient sea becomes a model for how regions transform competition into cooperation, one kilowatt at a time.
Karim Elgendy is the Executive Director of the Carboun Institute.