The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables

With Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz forcing Gulf oil producers to dramatically curb output, governments across the region are intensifying investment in overseas renewable energy projects, underscoring their growing strategic importance amid the escalating energy crisis. Now in its third month, the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has triggered the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), adding renewed incentive to the Gulf countries’ plans to diversify their energy mix and economies more broadly. A flurry of sizeable investments advancing such plans have been announced over the last couple of months. In April, Abu Dhabi’s renewables champion Masdar signed a binding agreement with France’s TotalEnergies to establish a $2.2bn 50/50 joint venture that will merge their onshore renewable activities in nine countries across Asia. In early May, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company took a significant minority stake in San Francisco-based renewables management platform, Power Factors, whose software is used by 70% of the world’s 50 largest renewable energy producers. It also invested $325m in Orsted’s Hornsea 3 project off the east coast of the U.K. this month. When combined with Hornsea 1 and 2, it will become the world’s largest single offshore wind farm with a total capacity exceeding 5 Gigawatts (GW). “A lot of these projects are long-laid plans,” Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy, a Dubai-based energy advisory company, told Fortune. “I think there is also an acceleration taking place due to Gulf countries increasingly considering their domestic energy security. Current events are leading to an improved investment landscape for their overseas renewables portfolios due to the desire to be more diversified and strategic.” In January this year, Masdar’s global renewable energy capacity hit a notable milestone of 65 GW – up from 51 GW in 2025–placing it two-thi