MENA Solar Brief March 2012
April 18,  2012 - Welcome to the MENA Solar Brief newsletter  - Issue 1204

Serving the solar energy market in the MENA region. Solar energy associations, government organizations and companies in the GCC / MENA region are encouraged to submit solar news, articles, reports, job postings and event notices for publication in the monthly MENA Solar Brief.

* ESIA in the News
* SASIA in the News
* Regional & Global Solar News 
* Project Leads & Updates
* Solar Technology Focus
* Solar Investing
* Conferences & Exhibitions

MENA Solar Map: Submit solar project details to be included on upcoming Google Mashup Solar Map application. For details: click here
USA Solar Map developed by SEPA
ESIA in the News:  

ESIA newsletter banner News, job postings, upcoming events, solar reports and more. 

  • Emirates Solar Industry Association holds first AGM, elects board 

    ESIA says plans to promote solar power in UAE, Middle East gain momentum.

    ESIA's new eight-member board appointed.

  • UAE Solar Survey 2012 - your views are important to us!
    With continued interest in participation we have extended the survey by 1 week until Thursday 26th of April. Please, if you haven't already responded - take 15 minutes to respond today. This survey has been developed by Emirates Solar Industry Association in conjunction with PwC and marks the launch of an annual UAE Solar Survey which aims to compile and refine a comprehensive view of the issues facing the industry today; those that currently hinder the growth of solar in the UAE and ideas for further development of the industry. Please feel free to pass this survey on to any interested parties. The survey has been developed in association with the UAE Government and your opinions will serve as an input to policy decisions going forward.    
  •  MENASOL 2012 is taking place in Abu Dhabi on 16-17 May 2012. The theme of this solar conference is to seize new opportunities & establish critical foundations to accelerate the success of solar energy in the MENA region. ESIA members can register using the code"ESIA" and get a €100 discount.  

For more information contact:  

Laurentia van Lennep  

laurentia@emiratessolar.com 

Emirates Solar Industry Association
Marketing Coordinator

+971 55 664 0487  

 
SASIA  in the News:  
SASIA block
News, job postings, upcoming events, solar reports and more.

For more information contact:  

info@saudi-sia.com or visit www.saudi-sia.com 

Solar Energy News Summary: 

Top Stories
 
     * Saudi Arabia : Could Solar Power Boost Saudi Oil Exports?, April 2012, The Energy Collective
How often have we heard that installing renewable energy sources like wind and solar power will improve US energy security and reduce oil imports? There are other reasons for promoting these technologies, but this one has little substance, because we generate less than 1% of our electricity from oil. Ironically, this logic looks much more relevant to the part of the world with the largest oil reserves and that accounts for the lion's share of global oil exports, the Middle East. This week's Economist reports that Saudi Arabia generates 65% of its power from oil, and the impact on its oil exports could grow dramatically as the country's population and economy expand. Other Gulf producers have similar profiles. The Saudi government's strategy to increase its use of nuclear and renewable energy could pay big dividends in preserving oil for exports, though the volumes freed up by such means wouldn't be cheap.

    * Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia can invest and become the world's largest produce of green solar energy. -
April 2012 , New York Examiner, Saudi Arabia has about 2 trillion square meters that are capable to produce 14 trillion Kwh solar energy a day, enough to power the world.The average electricity consumption for a U.S. residential house is 33 kilowatthours (kWh) per day, 1000 kWh a month. The oil prices are at $102 a barrel and natural gas is about $2. In the today's market price Saudi Aramco has above $30 trillion in underground assets.

    * UAE: Abu Dhabi's $600m solar power plant to be completed this year Shams 1 expected to generate about 100mw of electricity - GulfNews 
Shehab Al Makaleh, Staff Reporter  -  The Shams 1, which occupies 2.5 square kilometres, can generate approximately 100MW of power. It has a solar field consisting of 768 parabolic trough collectors.Abu Dhabi Solar plant Shams 1 will be completed by the end of this year and will be ready to provide Abu Dhabi with power at commercial prices. 

    * Qatar: Solar energy to make drinking water. Qatar is looking for ways to make drinking water for irrigation and domestic use with the use of solar energy. The Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), a department of the Qatar Foundation, is developing a project for the production of water using solar-powered desalination. The problem of water supply is increasingly urgent in the country, which only has reserves for two days.

    * Morocco - The 500 megawatt project, in the southern region of Ouarzazate, is the first of five in a $9 billion solar programme that will account for 38 percent of Morocco's installed power generation capacity by 2020. The Ouarzazate project is to start as a 125 megawatt unit and undergo gradual upgrades to 500 MW by the end of 2015.

    * Algeria - Algeria sees bright future for solar energy exports. 

Now Algeria, aware that its oil and gas riches will one day run dry, is gearing up to tap its sunshine on an industrial scale for itself and even Europe. Work on its first plant began late last month at Hassi R'mel, 260 miles south of Algiers, the capital. The plant will be a hybrid, using both sun and natural gas to generate 150 megawatts. Of that, 25 megawatts will come from giant parabolic mirrors stretching over nearly 2 million square feet - roughly 45 football fields.

 
    * Tunisia: CDM to fund Solar Water Heaters. After three years of preparation, the first Tunisian Programme of Activities (PoAs) for solar water heating was registered successfully with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The Solar Water Heater Programme stated goal in the PoA is to install around 30,000 SWH per year in households,

    * Pakistan: Energy-starved Pakistan eyes solar power.

Pakistan needs to produce 16,000 megawatts of electricity a day but only manages 13,000 megawatts, according to the Pakistan Electric Power Company.

The shortfall means that millions endure electricity cuts for up to 16 hours a day, leaving them freezing in winter and sweltering in summer while hitting industry hard, exacerbating a slow-burn recession.


    * USA: Steve Job's Lesson for Solar-Power Bulls - April 2012, WSJ
The birth of the mouse is a famous cautionary tale from Silicon Valley. In it, Xerox develops an early version of the now-ubiquitous PC pointer, but Steve Jobs and Apple actually make it ubiquitous. The warning-first movers don't always end up dominating a particular field-applies to another hot technology: solar power.

    * China: The 6th China New Energy International Forum (CNEIF) ended on Saturday, April 14, in Beijing with the key conclusion that the Chinese photovoltaic market is full of promise, despite the subsidy cuts in Europe this year and the running investigation of Chinese cell and panel manufacturers in the U.S.

    * China: EnergyChinaForum.com -  China's photovoltaic (PV), a solar energy sector, has been experiencing accelerated growth in recent years, but the difficulties in commercializing the power it generates, has bottlenecked its profit vision.

Solar Project Leads & Updates: Members only: 


Solar Investing:
GE Doubled Global Solar Power Investments in Last Year -Clean Technica
When one of the largest companies in the world is doubling down on investments in a specific technology or industry, you know there's movement afoot. GE, the 6th largest U.S. company and the 14th most profitable in 2011, announced yesterday that it had doubled its solar energy investments in the past year. It invested $1.4 billion, for nearly $5 billion in projects, in that time.
 
Upcoming Solar Energy Events, Exhibitions & Conferences -   
2012
April 22 - 25 , WORLD ecoConstruct, Abu Dhabi UAE   
May 6-9 ,Oman Power & Water Summit 2012
May 8-9 , 4th Annual Saudi Solar Forum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
May 16-17, MENASOL 2012 - Abu Dhabi, UAE
May 16-18, SNEC PV Power Expo , Shanghai, China    
May 22-23, Solar Maghreb, Casablanca, Morocco
June 11-15, Intersolar Europe Conference, Munich, Germany 
June 28-30, 2012 - RENEC 2012, Istanbul, Turkey 
August 21-23, 2012 - 4th PV Guangzhou 2012, Guangzhou, China
September 16-18 , Global Future Energy Conference, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
September 17-19, MEED Middle East Renewables, Dubai, UAE
September 26-28, World Clean Technology Summit(WCTS) - Kampala Uganda 
October 22-24, APVIA 2012 - PV Asia Pacific Expo , Singapore 
November 5-8, The Big 5 MIddle East, Dubai, UAE
November 13-14, Solar Industry Summit - Middle East 2012, Dubai, UAE
November 14-16, EnerSol - WSEF 2012 ,Tunis
November 26 - December 7,  Qatar COP 18

2013
January 15-17 World Future Energy Summit, Abu Dhabi, UAE
February 17-19, 2013 Middle East Solar, Dubai , UAE

For event details - click here

 
MENA Solar Brief 
Editor:  Browning Rockwell
Email: browningr@horizoninc.com