First Solar to Build 13 MW Solar PV plan in Dubai

On 17th of October 2012, First Solar announced it has been selected by the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) to construct a 13 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Seih Al Dahal, about 31 miles south of Dubai. First Solar will provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, as well as its advanced thin-film PV modules.

The PV power plant is the first phase of the landmark "Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park", a project that is expected to eventually cover 18.5 square miles and produce 1,000 MW of energy using both PV and solar thermal technology by 2030.

Here is a short video about the Solar Park (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150466591271059)

Saudi investing abroad in Solar Energy

Although, this blog is meant to focus on the Middle East Renewable Energy developments, there is a recent Solar project from Morocco that has some relevance.

It was recently announced that Morocco’s solar energy agency has selected a consortium led by Saudi International Company for Water and Power (ACWA) to build a 160-megawatt concentrated solar power plant in the south of the country.

The Morocco state Solar Energy Agency (Masen), made the announcement at a press conference. ACWA has teamed up with Spanish engineering firm Aries IS and TSK EE for the design, finance, construction, operation and maintenance of the plant near the southern city of Ouarzazate.

In 2009, Morocco announced a $9 billion project to build five solar plants to harness the sun’s rays and produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.

It is very interesting to see a Saudi developer investing in Solar projects outside of Saudi Arabia and the GCC. This signals the higher focus and attention Solar energy is getting in the GCC countries and we can see the local developers gearing up to capitalize on the rise of Solar energy.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Jordan most attractive Cleantech markets in MENA

A recent 2012 report by Ernst & Young concluded that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Jordan as the most attractive Cleantech markets in the MENA region due to their government plans, budgets and long-term strategies. These countries have demonstrated investments in large initiatives such as KACARE for Saudi Arabia, Masdar for UAE and the ‘Green’ FIFA World Cup 2022 for Qatar. Although Jordan has limited financial resources, a new law was issued on renewable energy, which may help create new jobs by increasing local content requirements for investments in renewable energy.

The report also identifies the main drivers of Cleantech growth across the MENA region as: government policy, cost of the renewable energy, desire to reduce the use of fossil fuels, increased business efficiency and Job creation as a result of population growth and elevated rates of unemployment.

The report also sights broad opinion that Solar energy would be the leading Cleantech in the MENA region with Photovoltaic (PV) as the main solar technology for the MENA region followed by Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) by a lesser extent. The report sights in its survey that the lead of PV over CSP was justified mainly by the price per watt compared with the other technologies.

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.

KACARE leading Saudi Arabia's push for Renewable Energy

In a recent conferece in Riyadh (9 May 2012). The Deputy President of the King Abdullah Center for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE) announced that they plan to make a major shift in the Kingdom's energy mix.

In the recent years the Kingdom's domestic energy demand has been growing at a very fast rate. In 2011, Saudi burned 730,000 barrels of crude oil per day to cover its domestic needs and since crude is heavily subsidized domestically this represent a significant loss for Saudi from potential sale to export markets. A loss which will only increase with increasing energy demand.

When considering this perspective, Renewable Energy makes very good economic sense for the Kingdom, as the high cost of Renewable Energies could be off-set against higher real market value of domestic subsidized fuel consumed.

KA-CARE mentioned that it aims to build 16 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) and 25 GW of concentrated solar power (CSP) by 2032. It sighted that CSP was more expensive than PV but favored CSP for it storage capabilities. It was also mentioned that Geothemal and waste-to-energy could amount to 4 GW.

These plans have been submitted to the KA-CARE Board of Directors for approval which includes representatives from the highest authorities in the country. If indeed approved this would be a very exciting developing for Saudi Arabia.

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.