As Gulf states accelerate their renewable energy ambitions, one critical piece of the puzzle remains elusive: functional, liquid markets for trading green energy and carbon. Without them, the region’s transition risks being rich in megawatts but poor in value.
That’s the central argument made by Jan Haizmann, CEO of the Zero Emissions Traders Alliance (ZETA), in a recent article for Zawya. Haizmann contends that markets are not just infrastructure; they are the nervous system of any viable energy system. And while MENA countries are investing heavily in solar and wind capacity, they have yet to invest as seriously in the market mechanisms that would allow low-carbon energy to be priced, traded and scaled.
Haizmann sees the Gulf as uniquely positioned to lead, if it can overcome a web of fragmented regulations, national silos and institutional mistrust. Currently, renewable energy certificates (RECs) issued in Abu Dhabi are not even recognised in Dubai, let alone across borders. There is no MENA-wide carbon authority, no shared standard for green certificates and no trusted body to enforce one.
This, he argues, is where blockchain may have a role to play, not as a magic solution, but as a pragmatic tool. While ZETA has historically approached blockchain with caution, Haizmann notes that it could serve a very specific function: acting as a neutral, decentralised audit trail in the absence of a regional regulator.
“If there is no authority trusted by everyone in the region, then trust must be created artificially. This is where blockchain can make sense, as a kind of artificial trust,” he writes. And that’s precisely what blockchain can offer in a system where national priorities often diverge. A shared ledger could verify when certificates are issued, traded or retired, preventing double-counting and enabling third-party audits without relying on any one central authority.
This thinking has been shaped by the insights of Michael Merz, a veteran in European energy trading systems and the mind behind Enerchain, Europe’s only live blockchain trading pilot in the energy space. Merz’s key takeaway, according to Haizmann, is that blockchain works best when it provides transparency and traceability — not necessarily as the trading platform itself.
Looking beyond audit trails, ZETA is now working with the Kaspa Industrial Initiative (Kii), a decentralised non-profit group developing what may be the next leap: Gigawatt-coin (GWC), a blockchain-based stablecoin backed by a basket of assets including currencies, carbon credits and tokenised energy. The idea is to create a digital settlement instrument for green energy trading — one that sidesteps currency volatility and political interference.
Haizmann argues that this could give birth to a regional green energy market where a solar developer in Saudi Arabia could sell carbon-neutral energy to an industrial buyer in Egypt or Oman, seamlessly and securely. Transactions would be settled in GWC, verified via blockchain and governed by standards developed collaboratively through initiatives like ZETA.
ZETA and Kii are now preparing a pilot in the GCC, aiming to show that regional cooperation doesn’t have to wait for a supranational authority — it can be built from the ground up, with digital tools and mutual interest leading the way.
For a region serious about owning a piece of the global green economy, Haizmann’s message is clear: the time to build those markets is now.
