Masdar partners in worlds largest off-shore wind Farm in the UK

Masdar has entered into a consortium partnership with Dong Energy and E.ON with ownership stakes of (20%, 50% & 30% respectively). Together the consortium developed the London Array Offshore Wind Farm which has begun generating power.

The project is located in the Thames Estuary, and when completed will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

Phase I: 175 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 630 MW, 151 turbines have been installed with building on track for completion of Phase I by the end of 2012.

Phase II: Still not approved, but is planed to add enough capacity to bring total output to 870 MW. 

Masdar is Abu Dhabi's entity leading the development of renewable energy, and the project is another example of Masdar's extension for the development of Renewable Energy beyond the GCC. In November last year Masdar had also signed an agreement with the Scottish Government for coordination in Renewable Energy research.

It is very positive to see the continued coordination of the GCC countries with the rest of the world in Renewable Energy development.

Clean Energy Growing in the Middle East

I found an interesting article online at (Link). The article confirms as I mentioned in a previous blog that Saudi Arabia is planning to secure 41 GW of Solar Energy by 2032. Highlighting that otherwise continued reliance on Oil for Power generation will limit the Kingdom’s Oil export capacity.

Also, noteworthy in the article was Iran’s plans to develop a 5MW pilot plant for geothermal energy and its intention to add 12,000 MW of renewable energy to its power capacity.

The article also mentions that Qatar Solar Technologies plans to build a $1 billion silicon plant in Qatar to supply the material to manufactures of solar panels. In addition, Qatar Electricity and Water Co. wants to get 10 percent of its electricity from solar by 2018.

The article also mentions Petra Solar and First Solar as companies targeting the Middle Eastern Renewable market. It will be interesting to see who the foreign solar companies will choose to strike their strategic partnerships in the region.

Solar Energy in Bahrain

Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) is implementing a 5 MW solar capacity into a wireless smart grid network at Awali area. This project is being implemented in co-operation with Petra Solar, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) and Caspian Energy Holdings.

The system to be developed by Petra Solar will tie directly into the grid without requiring an upgrade to current transmission or distribution infrastructure, eliminating many of the grid interconnection issues and additional costs faced by traditional solar systems.

It is encouraging to see Bahrain venture into Solar power and it will be very interesting to see how Petra Solar will integrate renewable energy into the existing power grid.

When will the Solar revolution start?

There has always been a lot of hype and enthusiasm in the pursuit of Solar Energy. I find many initiatives dating far back promising unlimited clean energy from the Sun.

The earliest reference I can find from 1928 is the "Sahara Green" initiative (http://desertec-mediterranee.over-blog.com/) which envisaged turning the Sahara desert into green fields by using solar power to desalinate seawater and grow vegetation in the Sahara desert.

In the following decades every time there is an energy crises we see the world economy briefly putting focus on renewable energy only for them to quickly shift away once the crises is over.

Now again in the last few years we do see a renewed interest in renewables, although it seems this is partially driven by the dramatic raise in oil prices in 2008, this time the raise in interest in renewables could be different.

For example the "desert-tech" initative is receiving very strong backing from multiple international organizations. The oil rich Gulf countries have also started instigating their own renewable energy programs. Many countries have also reached consensus form the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Perhaps this time there is a real realization by the world community that oil prices will probably never go back to the prices of the previous decade. Although this will put pressure on the world economy it could at least offer hope for a sustained interest into renewable energy to help progress its development.