Cover of Bahrain’s Energy Settlement

BnA IQ Report

Bahrain’s Energy Settlement

Institutional choices, energy systems and the governance of transition in a Gulf economy.

BNA-IQ-2025-12Version 1.0Alexandre Rétif

Executive summary

The report examines energy transition as a settlement between fiscal capacity, infrastructure, industry, technology, public expectations and strategic autonomy.

Energy choices are not isolated technical projects. They redistribute dependency, capital requirements, risk and decision authority across the economy.

Key findings

01

Transition is an operating model

Targets require institutional ownership, project sequencing, finance and system integration.

02

Legacy and future systems coexist

Governance must manage reliability and investment while new capabilities mature.

03

Strategic autonomy is selective

The objective is not isolation, but control over consequential dependencies and credible options.