Jauad El Kharraz

Jauad is a Senior expert in energy, water and climate policies. He has been the Executive Director of the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) from Oct 2021 to Sep 2024. Dr. El Kharraz brings over 25 years of experience in various sustainable energy fields including energy policies, wind and solar technologies, and green hydrogen in addition to water management, desalination, water-energy-food nexus, climate change, and environment. Prior to joining RCREEE, Dr. El Kharraz has been a senior consultant for several prestigious institutions and programs, and he held the position of Director of Research at the Middle East Desalination Research Center in Oman (2015-2020). He served as a senior expert, advisor, and evaluator for several international institutions (e.g., European Commission, UN-ESCWA, PRIMA Foundation, EU-GCC Clean Energy Technology Network,” , etc.) and he is member of board of the European Desalination Society, AgreeMed and WEFE4Med Nexus projects. He is also a member of the International Desalination Association, the Mediterranean Water Institute, Oman Energy Majlis, and Oman Water Society.

Dr. El Kharraz sustainability career officially started in 1998 as a researcher at the Global Change Unit -University of Valencia and projects manager later at the Euro-Mediterranean Water Information System, France (2004-2015). Through his journey, he coordinated, prepared, and contributed to an important portfolio of international programs/projects of millions of euros such as FP5-FP7, H2020, ENPI CBC Med, INCO MED, INCO NGOs, SMAP, LIFE, PRIMA. He carried out projects for national and international donors such as GIZ, SIDA, IsDB, TRC/Oman and USAID apart from private sector companies.

He chaired and contributed to the development of an important number of scientific papers, policy briefs, policies, training & mentorship activities, lectures, awards ceremonies, and events (e.g., World Economic Forum, World Water Forum, World Science Forum, World Urban Forum, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, MENA Europe Future Energy Dialogue, World Hydrogen Summit, Planetary Security Initiative, Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue Conference, International Higher Education Conference, COP26, COP27, etc.) in more than 60 countries. Dr. El Kharraz is a national of Morocco and France, and a graduate of the University of Abdelmalek Essaadi. Dr. El Kharraz obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Physics from the Department of Earth Physics and Thermodynamics, University of Valencia, Spain, and a diploma in enterprises management and strategies from SKEMA Business School, France. He is a fluent French, Arabic, Spanish and English speaker.