With a resolute leadership acumen, Mohamed Abdelwarith Said has consistently demonstrated a commitment to sustainable energy practices and innovation. His deep understanding of the renewable energy sector and passion for advancing technological solutions have enabled Clenergy MENA to reach new heights in the field.
Mohamed Abdelwarith Said’s leadership is marked by a track record of successfully developing and implementing cutting-edge projects that harness solar and wind power to drive environmental sustainability and energy efficiency across MENA.
His strategic vision and technical expertise have made him a trusted authority in the industry, and he continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of clean energy solutions in the region.
Under Mohamed’s guidance as the Technical Director, Clenergy MENA is poised to lead the way in delivering sustainable energy solutions that reduce carbon footprints and contribute to economic growth and prosperity in the MENA region.
With a relentless commitment to innovation and a dedication to a greener, more sustainable future, Mohamed Abdelwarith Said stands as an icon of excellence in the evolution of renewable energy in MENA, and his work at Clenergy MENA is a testament to his unwavering passion and expertise in the field.
This interview sheds light on Mohamed’s wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table, driving Clenergy MENA’s mission to revolutionize the clean energy landscape.
Below are the excerpts from the interview:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?
My journey began over 25 years ago as a teaching assistant at Kuwait University while pursuing my master’s degree in mechanical engineering. As an MEP building services specialist and Green Buildings Consultant, I worked for leading MENA project management firms such as Egis (formerly Projacs) for over 16 years.
I greatly expanded my knowledge, multi-disciplinary skills and professional business network during that time. In late 2013, I began turning over a new leaf by co-founding and acting as a Technical Director at Clenergy MENA, fulfilling a decade-long dream that I worked tirelessly to realize.
Innovation and company entrepreneurship were always critical career goals that I pursued relentlessly. As my dream transpired, I continued honing my talents, accumulating skills in various disciplines and developing my network regionally and worldwide. Success and leadership are earned through education, hard work and determination, which are the premises of my learning journey.
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision. What strategies have you employed to ensure a smooth transition between generations while maintaining your company’s values and vision?
Clenergy MENA: The Name is a merger of the words “clean” & “energy.” The company was established with the vision of striving to be one of MENA’s most prominent, innovative and recognized influencers in clean energy knowledge and applications. Clenergy MENA’s mission is to excel in developing clean energy solutions through leadership, enriching customer experiences, adhering to sustainable practices, maintaining constant innovation and delivering quality knowledge.
Clenergy MENA management has translated the above vision and mission into a set of core business values (listed below) and procedures to ensure they are always memorized and consistently embraced by all while the business expands and grows.
- Act sustainable.
- Act ethically
- Share knowledge.
- Enrich customer experience.
- Think big.
Enlighten us on the impact you have made with your work through your expertise in the market.
As an MEP & Green Building expert and Clenergy MENA business leader, I have constantly pushed, trained and assisted customers and sustainability enthusiasts towards embracing and incorporating sustainable methods into their projects and practices.
I always worked around various sustainability challenges by advocating sustainable practices and offering expert support in simplifying and embedding sustainability practices into Procedures and/or Terms of Reference for the customers’ network.
I have positively impacted as an MEP and/or Green Building expert over +1 million m2 of the built-up area of various project typologies, where I have provided a variety of green building services, including green building certification management (e.g. National Bank of Kuwait New HQ in Kuwait; certified LEEDv3 Gold), sustainability consultancy (e.g. Boubyan Bank HQ sustainable design TOR and design/construction verification and Sustainability assessment & gap analysis for various clients).
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
Clenergy MENA’s primary business stream is the development of Solar Photovoltaic EPC projects, widely recognized as one of the fastest-growing businesses globally, with impressive technological growth and advancement in the last decade and decades. We have always incorporated cutting-edge technologies, Solar PV Module technology and solar DC/AC inverters into our designs and offerings to our clients.
Clenergy MENA reinforces this approach by attracting talented personnel, providing up-to-date, accurate design tools, partnering with top-tier manufacturers & vendors and providing our clients with avant-garde performance monitoring tools as a standard feature to maximize their awareness and operational potentials regarding their renewable energy investments.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run and what are your future goals for your company?
As a business leader, I see myself as one of the MENA region’s distinguished sustainability leaders, contributing to a genuine and deep embracement of sustainability practices and helping shift the business-as-usual mindset to a more sustainably conscious mindset, particularly in the MENA region.
In terms of Clenergy MENA, it is a one-of-a-kind destination and one of the most prominent influencers in the MENA region for innovative, cutting-edge, one-stop-shop clean energy solutions.
What would you advise budding leaders who aspire to venture into sustainability?
My advice to budding leaders venturing into sustainability is never to stop learning. Learning is a lifelong mission. Start with a solid focus and lead by Example. Be open-minded when it comes to helping others embrace sustainability. Contribute professionally to procedures and policy crafting, upgrading projects’ TORs and guidelines and advocating sustainability in every possible convention.
In a rapidly changing market, innovation is key. How do you foster a culture of innovation within your company and what role has innovation played in continued growth and success?
Sometimes, innovation is perceived mistakenly as a complex venture. At Clenergy MENA, we foster innovation through a few simple approaches:
- Developing and reinforcing clear and robust vision and business purpose.
- Encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration both vertically and horizontally.
- Providing necessary resources, tools and management support.
- Strongly promoting the culture of experimentation and risk-taking to learn and develop from successes and failures.
- Recognizing and rewarding culture for innovation and success.
- Fostering, supporting and financing learning and continuous improvement.
- Encouraging open communication and ideas sharing.
- Staying connected with the industry and supporting participation in leading industry events.
- Performance tracking via established KPIs, work procedures and code of business conduct.
As a leader, you likely face challenges on a regular basis. Can you share an instance where you encountered a significant obstacle and how you navigated through it, drawing upon your leadership skills and resilience?
As a business leader at Clenergy MENA, we consistently encounter various challenges at different phases of our Projects under development. For example, our first Solar PV project was one of our most challenging and complex projects. It involved a mix of rooftop solar PV, façade integrated PV and façade applied PV installations. The design and installation stages involved sophisticated engineering and coordination to successfully execute the project at a time when the Company was still in the infancy stage of its capacity building:
We courageously accepted the challenge as it was a great learning and capacity-building opportunity.
We opt to partner with strong and experienced partners to train our team and provide necessary technical support.
We turned this challenge into a continuous collaboration and coordination endeavor with all project stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of the perceived results.
Sometimes, saying I don’t know and getting the answer from someone who does indicates success. Eventually, the outcome of this embraced early challenge is that our team, including myself, had a whale of a time and kickstarted impressive traction and growth for the Company after that.
How do you envision the company evolving to meet the demands of the ever-changing business landscape while staying true to its core values?
At Clenergy MENA, we have decided to sustain a lean and flexible business model that embraces purpose and profit as we believe they are mutually exclusive. This decision was primarily driven by the future vision of coping with changes perceived in the business landscape we are practicing within.
This approach is reflected in the Company’s focus on developing various horizontals under the niche of “Clean Energy Solutions” to maximize its flexibility, optimize its resources and effectively leverage varying market demands.
