Rabih Baroud

Bureau Veritas Renewable Sales Leader

What is your role and how would you describe your job? 

I am the Renewable Sales Leader at Bureau Veritas in charge of the Middle East Region. My responsibilities cover supporting the renewable power industry for a low-carbon future with a focus on solar, wind and hydro energy as well as following up on the green hydrogen projects which are powered by renewable energy. I lead business development for main projects in the region by supporting countries in identification, preparation and submission of pre-qualification, EOI, offers and tenders. We can provide Owner’s Engineering / Lender’s Technical advisory services next to our traditional TIC (Testing, inspecting and certification) services for developers, EPC and their subcontractors. 

How did you start your journey in the solar industry? 

I studied mechanical engineering in Germany in the field of renewable energy, and got my master degree in renewables where I was involved in CSP collector designs and also testing various effect of PV modules’ color vs efficiency and performance. My professional solar journey started in 2012, while I was a business developer to look after the MENA market for a solar inverter supplier. That was a though period in solar industry due to the lack of regulations, high cost of solar PV modules and other components and not much support from authorities. After many important roles in solar industry, I have joined Bureau Veritas with the beginning of 2021.

What is your most memorable moment in Solar? 

The moment when the solar PV LCOE prices started beating the conventional power plants prices was a great surprise for the full industry and was the beginning of the renewable era in Mena region. Another important moment is when the most of the countries have started to allow grid tied solar PV systems for the C&I market and also setting up an ambitious plan for their renewable target from 20 to 30 % of their generation by 2030. I believe still many more need to be done especially when it comes to the major challenge of cleaning such huge PV plants in a dusty area within this region.