My areas of expertise:
- Strategy & execution
- Market research
- Stakeholder consultations
- Policy analysis
- Climate finance
- Business model innovation
- Technical assistance
- Techno-economic feasibility studies
- Entrepreneurship support services
- Grant writing services
- Advisory services for intl. companies, philanthropies, and development agencies
- Market entry strategy and intl. business development
- Training and capacity building
Dr. Mohamed Alhaj
Founder & Managing Director of Terra Energy
Dr. Mohamed Alhaj is a young Sudanese energy leader and a sustainable energy expert. He is the founder and managing director of Terra Energy – a Rwanda-based boutique consulting firm that provides advisory services in the energy and climate sectors to development agencies, governments, the private sector, and philanthropies. He is also a Certified ILO Trainer for Start & Improve Your Business (SIYB).
Dr. Mohamed’s expertise in renewable energy and climate spans 10+ years and covers government advisory, consultancy projects, strategy and execution, policy analysis, academic research, and youth development in the MENA region and sub-Saharan Africa. He has robust working experience with numerous intl. organizations, philanthropies, and development agencies such as the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, UN Trade and Development, kFW, AFD, GIZ, Development Bank of Rwanda, the European Commission, BASE, and RES4Africa Foundation. This includes projects on private sector development, investment strategies, business model innovation, technical assistance, market research, capacity-building, and business development. Furthermore, he worked for over four years as a technical expert with the Public Utility Company in Qatar, where he took part in developing the national renewable energy strategy for the country (2024).
Mohamed completed his Ph.D. at 28 years old, at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar) where he worked on developing a sustainable solar-driven seawater desalination technology. His Ph.D. research investigated the technical performance, environmental impact, and economic feasibility of solar-driven low-pressure thermal desalination. He published numerous peer-reviewed papers in the highest-impact journals in the areas of sustainability, solar energy, desalination, and life-cycle assessment.
Dr. Mohamed is a contributor to The World Bank B-Ready Report, the Annual Solar Outlook Report (2022), published by the Middle East Solar Industries Association, and the Africa Solar Outlook Report (2023 – 2025), published by the Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA). Moreover, he participated as a panelist, a moderator, and a speaker in numerous intl. conferences and forums in Sudan, Qatar, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Seychelles, Egypt, Gabon, and Rwanda. He was also featured by RES4Africa Foundation, PowerforAll, Frontier Africa Reports, and TRT Haber – Turkish National Television & Radio Network.
Organizations I consulted/worked for:
I was a speaker, moderator, participant at:
Reports & Studies I contributed to:
Articles, policy memos, and op-eds:
Reports, articles, and op-eds
- Co-authored a market brief on “Tanzania’s Renewable Energy Landscape”. 2024. Available here.
- Contributor to the report “The Role of Africa’s ESCO Market”. Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy and Integrate to Zero. 2023. Available here.
- Co-authored a report on “Utility-scale Solar in Sudan: Case Study of AL-Fashir 5 MW Plant”. 2023. Available here.
- Author of Policy Memo: “Desalination: a future energy demand driver”. Energy for Growth Hub. December 2022. Washington D.C. Available here.
- Author of Policy Memo: “Clean water from clean energy: Energy for Growth Hub. December 2022. Washington D.C. Available here.
- Op-ed: “Innovation as a driver for Africa’s energy transition”. June 2022. RES4Africa Foundation. Available here.
- Lead country contributor (Sudan) in the Annual Solar Outlook Report (2022) published by the Middle East Solar Industries Association – the largest solar industry association in the MENA region. Available here.
- Country contributor for Sudan and South Sudan in the Annual Outlook Report (2023) published by the Africa Solar Industries Association (AFSIA).
- Designed and developed the “Guide to Solar Energy in Sudan”, 2022, including the first-ever directory of solar companies in Sudan. Available
- Co-authored a report on “Challenges & Opportunities in Training in the Sudan Solar Energy Market”. 2021. Available here.
Peer-reviewed scientific papers
- Alhaj, M., Tahir, F., Al-Ghamdi, S.G., (2022). Life-cycle environmental assessment of solar-driven Multi-Effect Desalination (MED) plant. Desalination 524, 1154-51. Available here.
- Dafaalla, A., Saeed, M.K., Badri, S., Alhaj, M., (2021). Sustainable development and the role of African scientific research centres. African J. Eng. Technol. 1. Available here.
- Alhaj, M., Al-Ghamdi, S.G., (2019). Why is powering thermal desalination with concentrated solar power expensive? assessing economic feasibility and market commercialization barriers. Sol. Energy 189, 480–490. Link here.
- Alhaj, M., Al-Ghamdi, S.G., (2019). Integrating concentrated solar power with seawater desalination technologies: a multi-regional environmental assessment. Environ. Res. Lett. 14, 074014. Link here.
- Alhaj M, Mabrouk A, Al-Ghamdi SG. (2018). Energy efficient multi-effect distillation powered by a solar linear Fresnel collector. Energy Convers. Manage 2018;171:576–86. Link here.
- Alhaj M, Hassan A, Darwish M, Al-Ghamdi SG. (2017). A techno-economic review of solar-driven multi-effect distillation. Desal Wat Treat 2017;90:86–98. Available here.
- Alhaj M, Mohammed S, Darwish M, Hassan A, Al-Ghamdi SG. (2017). A review of Qatar’s water resources, consumption and virtual water trade. Desal Wat Treat 2017;70:70–85. Available here.
