Dr. Mohamed Alhaj

Founder & Managing Director

Dr. Mohamed Alhaj is a young energy leader, a competent sustainable energy consultant, and an expert researcher. He is also the founder of Terra Energy’s knowledge hub, Clean Energy 4 Africa. – which has been acknowledged by the UN as being among the top 98 youth initiatives globally that promote SDG7.

Dr. Mohamed has strong experience in working with intl. organizations, utilities, and philanthropies in various energy transition projects in Africa and globally. He has worked with the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) and kFW Bank in conducting a comprehensive market assessment study for the Sudan SME Catalytic Fund, with an emphasis on SMEs working in the renewable energy and agribusiness sectors. He also worked with the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE) in conducting a study on customer-driven business models that can scale up renewable energy and e-mobility in Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa. Furthermore, he worked for three 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. Moreover, he is a research consultant for the Energy for Growth Hub working on developing policy memos for the desalination market in Africa.

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, which received several prestigious awards investigated the technical performance, environmental impact, and economic feasibility of solar-driven low-pressure thermal desalination, particularly for water-scarce countries. Mohamed also holds an MSc. degree in Energy Technology from the National University of Malaysia and a BEng. degree with honors in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Nottingham.

Dr. Mohamed is an expert in renewable energy research and has published several peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals in the areas of sustainability, solar energy, desalination, and life-cycle assessment. He is also an editorial board member in UCL’s Open Environment Journal. His full list of publications can be seen here. He is also the founder and associate editor of the African Journal of Engineering & Technology. In addition, he has been involved in applying for four research grants under the Qatar National Research Fund (National Priorities Research Program), out of which two were awarded a total of $1.2 million. He is also a principal investigator for a research project on energy systems modeling and optimization, funded by the Qatar National Research Fund.

Dr. Mohamed is a recognized expert in Sudan’s renewable energy sector. He is the first-ever country contributor for Sudan in the Annual Solar Outlook Report (2022), published by the Middle East Solar Industries Association. In addition, he led the development of the Guide to Solar Energy in Sudan – the first consumer guide of its kind in the country, and also developed the first-ever database of solar companies in Sudan. He was also an invited jury member for Africa Solar Awards (2022), by the Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA). Moreover, he has participated as a panelist, a moderator, and a speaker in numerous intl. conferences such as UN Energy 2021, African Climate Week 2022 in Gabon, and COP27 in Egypt.

In addition to his professional work, Dr. Mohamed is the chairman of the first-ever RES4Africa Foundation’s Youth Task Force, where he advises the Foundation in its youth engagement strategies.

For speaking requests, coaching, consulting, or training inquiries, you can contact Dr. Mohamed at: mohamed@terraenergi.co