Spotlight on Jesus Gutierrez, General Manager at X-Noor
About Jesus Gutierrez:
Jesus Gutierrez is an entrepreneur and executive officer with more than 25 years of international experience in the areas of energy and decarbonization services. Prior to his engagement at X-NOOR, Jesus co-founded Smart4Power, today one of the largest Energy Service Companies in the region. Before that, Jesus successfully led the business setup of Indra Group energy consultancy business in the GCC and worked for one of the largest utility companies in Spain, Naturgy. He also worked as management consultant at PWC in the Philippines and at the UNDP office in Mexico. Jesus is graduated in BA (Spain) with an MPhil in Innovation & Technology Management (UK).
Please describe your role at X-Noor as well as your industry expertise.
My mission at X-NOOR is to drive the company growth by offering and delivering competitive renewable energy solutions to our C&I clients. This means to attracting and retaining highly skilled professionals, setting up a network of strategic partnerships with OEMs and EPCs, and leading the conversations with our clients aiming to reducing their carbon footprint and energy bill.
What motivated X-Noor to invest in the MENA's solar industry?
I would say three key factors: The decarbonization plans pursued by most governments in the MENA region, the size of the market and the changes in regulation which are rapidly facilitating the development of medium to large scale solar projects in the region. Solar energy has become the most competitive energy source for many of our C&I clients, we can offer tariffs that beat even the subsidized tariffs enjoyed by some of our clients.
Can you tell us about what sets you apart from other competitors?
A combination of different elements: I would highlight two: Financial capacity to invest in large solar projects married with the expertise and agility to identify and execute our projects. We are a niche solar + player, our clients can benefit of a smooth and fast decision making. We are able to reduce the lead time from the first meeting with the client to project execution and we can do that while having a bullet-proof PPA or lease agreement or delivering under high HSE standards.
What's a recent milestone X-Noor has achieved that you would like to share with us?
We have been able to close 4 projects in the first year of operations, all of that while setting up our teams in KSA and UAE and getting the license to operate. It has been crazy good. We have an amazing team committed to make it happen.
What are your expectations for the MENA region in terms of growth and new opportunities for X-Noor?
We have very ambitious growth plans for the region, where we are aiming to develop 400MW int the C&I market in our first phase of development. We are also monitoring opportunities that could lead to operate large-scale utility plants. The rapid technology enhancement and price reduction of BESS opens as well new opportunities, particularly for those companies operating off grid.
How do you see the effects of the increasing adoption of solar energy on the MENA's economy in the coming years?
I would summarize the effects in two:
Having leaner and more sustainable industrial and commercial companies that will help them to compete not only in the local market but to export in markets where they have more stringent carbon reduction requirements.
Creating new, highly-skilled job opportunities and providing new business opportunities for local players (engineering companies, EPCs, O&Ms, etc.)
About X-Noor
X-NOOR is a regional solar developer and a JV between X-Elio, a Brookfield company, and Dutco, a large conglomerate with 75+ experience in the region. Brookfield is today the third largest solar developer in the word. We finance, implement and operate Solar PV systems alone or in combination with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). The company focuses on medium to large-scale C&I market.
X-NOOR is licensed as NOOR Clean Energy LLC in KSA and as X-NOOR Energy Equipment Trading LLC in UAE.