Status of renewable energy in the GCC region and future opportunities

•Reviews the status of renewable energy (RE) growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.•Highlights potential future applications of the newest innovations in RE technologies in GCC.•Summarizes the existing policies and measures in GCC for renewable energy implementation.•Emphasizes the importance of multi-sector integration while implementing RE technologies in GCC. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are committed to boosting the proportion of renewable energy (RE) in their overall energy mix to reduce the economic reliance on fossil fuels. The governments and regulatory authorities in GCC countries are very much open to adopting newly developed efficient and applicable RE technologies to fulfill their individual renewable energy implementation targets through multi-sector integration (i.e. electricity generation, public transport, energy-intensive industry, or green building development). This paper reviews the current and future projects based on RE techniques for each GCC country. It highlights the potential applications of the newest innovations in RE technologies. It also summarizes the existing policies and measures in GCC for renewable energy implementation.