MENA Solar Brief
June 2014 - issue 1406
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Feature article: Is Saudi Arabia Finally Ready to Create Solar Wealth? 
Unlocking the market
Dry tree in  Salar de uyuni, Bolivia

Solar energy investments have seen explosive growth over the past 10 years, rising by nearly 20-fold from around $5 billion in 2003 to a staggering $93 billion today. Where does Saudi Arabia realistically stand in this booming market, and what factors could slow down or speed up the growth of its solar wealth?

  

Saudi Arabia's target for an installed solar capacity of 41 GW by 2032 is by far the largest-announced solar target in the world. However, apart from a number of demonstration projects built by KAUST, Saudi Aramco and others, no major project announcements have been made since the release of the K.A.CARE White Paper in 2013. Yet despite slow progress at the official level, experts in the region see great potential for solar, possibly in the near future.

 

"We are expecting the first-large scale project tenders to be released by the end of 2014. In addition, the private sector and other public organizations in Saudi Arabia are exploring independent solar project development," says Browning Rockwell, founder of Solar GCC Alliance and Saudi Arabia Solar Industry Association (SASIA).


K.A.CARE has put forward recommendations, but is currently unable to act as it waits for decisions from the Saudi government regarding next steps in the solar program. How soon the situation will progress is anyone's guess, but according to Keith Bullen, associate at Baker Botts and a member of SASIA's advisory board, Saudi Arabia's electricity market is likely to go through a period of regulatory changes in the near future.
SOLAR GCC ALLIANCE NEWS
New look & focus for MENA Solar Brief
Solar GCC Alliance expands coverage

This issue launches an all-new look for the MENA Solar Brief. We hope you'll find the new format easier to use, especially on smartphones and other mobile devices. In addition, stories are now grouped by region and category to help you quickly find the information you need most.
 
The new look also reflects our expanding efforts to encourage solar development throughout the region with the formation of the Solar GCC Alliance. This initiative seeks to foster independent solar development in each of its affiliate countries, while simultaneously providing an infrastructure for international collaboration. Building upon the success of the Saudi Arabia Solar Industry Association (SASIA), we're expanding throughout the entire GCC region, as well as Jordan and Morocco.
 
We welcome your comments about the new format, as well as any suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered in future issues. 

Best regards, 
 
Browning Rockwell
Executive Director, Solar GCC Alliance
 
Solar GCC Alliance Update 
Morocco joins Solar GCC Alliance

Morocco Solar Industry Assoc

This month, the Solar GCC Alliance welcomes Morocco as its newest affiliate nation. Morocco faces two major energy issues: energy independence (the country is dependent on outside sources for 97% of its energy supply) and growing demand (6% to 8% annual increase in demand for electric energy since 1998). Solar power in Morocco is enabled by one of the highest rates of solar insolation of any country - about 3,000 hours per year of sunshine.

 

SASIA in the News
Webinar /// Creating solar wealth in Saudi Arabia: update and next steps

SASIA logo final April 28, 2013
As a prequel to the Solar Trade Mission Saudi Arabia (14-18 September), Solarplaza (together with SASIA) hosted a free webinar in which four market experts provide their vision on the developments of solar energy in Saudi Arabia.Keynote speaker Jigar Shah, Founder of SunEdison and Author of the book "Creating Climate Wealth", shared his vision on the developments in the global solar industry during the past decade and discussed the lessons learned to the central question of this webinar: how to create solar wealth in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region?

In This Issue
Upcoming Events
 
September 14 - 18, 2014

"The most effective way to build partnerships in Saudi Arabia"
September 17-18, 2014

Exploring the solar market opportunities for PV, CSP and CPV technologies during this unique Conference & Exhibition
Solar &Energy Storage Forum - Dubai , U.A.E.
November 5, 2014

Empowering successful and profitable MENA solar utilities.
Contact Us
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REGIONAL & GLOBAL SOLAR NEWS
GCC countries: Rising stars in solar and wind

The Gulf region is not only home to some of the world's leaders in oil and gas production, it is also a powerhouse of renewable energy potential. 


Many of the GCCm member countries are perhaps best known for their immense oil and gas reserves, however, they also offer excellent solar resources, and in many cases strong wind resources.The GCC, however, is not a homogenous market and features some very key differences that influence the attractiveness of renewable energy (RE) in each country.

 

In this article, Matthias Kittler, Apricum Principal, explains the differences as well as the opportunities that exist for solar and wind players now and in the medium term.


The Middle East grid: bright lights and blackouts  

Ambitious renewable energy plans in the Middle East will need to be matched by the grid. With large disparities in existing infrastructure and the means of each nation, John Parnell explores the range of options for getting PV power from plant to plug - 

The differing prospects of solar energy, and indeed any form of renewable energy across the Middle East, are largely a product of the varying economic fortunes across the region. While all countries would benefit from an increased installed base of solar PV, the nature of these benefits is similarly different. Less than 40% of Yemen's population has access to electricity; in Saudi Arabia, the challenge is about keeping pace with growing demand while freeing up more oil for the lucrative export market.

"The grid situation in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) is actually mixed and it is a difficult group to generalise about," says Gus Schellekens, COO of PwC's global sustainability and climate change practice.


Solar Charge - the Middle East may final be ready to make massive investments in solar power.

Challenges remain, but the industry sees light at the end of the tunnel

 

Salar de uyuni, Bolivia

With the finest natural conditions anywhere on earth, you might expect the Middle East to be leading the world in the development of solar power projects.

Yet it lags far behind countries like Germany, the world's largest solar market, where the sun can't always be relied upon to shine. 

 

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) could see more than $50 bn worth of investments in solar power over the next two decades, it says. Saudi Arabia alone plans to install 41 GW of solar power by 2032, equivalent to the power produced by 41 nuclear power plants.

 

However solar currently contributes just 0.271 GW of the 16 GW of installed renewable energy capacity in the Middle East, with hydroelectric power plants providing almost all of the rest. So why does the industry appear to have made such limited progress in getting projects off the drawing board and what will it take to get things moving?

 

Jordan has no utility scale installed solar power capacity but the country is forging ahead with plans to add 600 MW in the coming years.

 

Jordan shortlists 12 firms for $150mn solar plant

The ministry will announce the winning bidder to build the 75-megawatt (MW) plant 

The project is to be funded from the $5bn (JOD 3.5bn) pledged by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait in 2011 to assist Jordan over a period of five years.

 


1st Round Solar Projects

 

Company NameProject Capacity in MWLocation
SHAMS Ma'an by KAWAR Group & First Solar52Ma'an
Clean Energy Concept 10Ma'an
Scatec Solar10Ma'an
Martifer Solar - Adenium Energy Capital10Ma'an
AMP Solar Group - Jordan Solar One 20Mafraq
Sun Edison 20Ma'an
SHAMSUNA Company10Aqaba
EJRE20Ma'an
ENNERA10Ma'an
Bright Investment Group10Ma'an
Green Land Alternative Energy10Ma'an
Catalist20Ma'an

Around 200MW of solar PV projects under the REOI-1 process have nearly concluded their PPA negotiations with the Government. The Government issued (on the 9 February 2014) the names of qualified bidders who submitted EOIs under the REOI-2 process.


List of Qualified EOI Round 2    -   Click here for list 
Why utilities need to wake up to the distributed solar boom

Utilities across the world have so far overlooked or ignored the wave of distributed generation, based on cheap solar power. This, however, represents nothing short of a revolution: it transfers power (actual and economic) from suppliers to consumers 


Electricity pylons and power lines at orange sunset.

Utilities are at a crossroads. They can focus on protecting their existing business or on mastering the new opportunities as they arise. They are perfectly positioned to adopt distributed solar PV as a new business avenue. But will they do it?

  • Most utilities are trying to limit the spread of distributed solar PV since it undermines their monopolistic position and existing business model, resulting in a loss of revenue. They often tout the excuse of grid instability to prevent the proliferation of distributed PV.
  • The grid will likely not be a bottleneck and can easily accommodate significantly large amount of PV without any investment in additional infrastructure.
  • Distributed solar PV can be a win-win for utilities, consumers and policy makers, provided utilities recognize this.
Oman slated to be MENA's next hub for solar technology

Oman could emerge as a regional leader in solar technology after Middle East's first solar enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project at PDO's Amal West field in southern Oman became a success.


The project was commissioned in partnership with GlassPoint Solar which specialises in solar EOR technology. Rod MacGregor, the company's CEO believes Oman could be a regional leader in solar energy. He said, "As the pioneer of EOR in the region, Oman is well positioned to grow into a hub for solar technologies and supporting industries. Oil companies throughout the world have been following the progress of the pilot project. EOR is now seen as a strategic solution for saving valuable gas resources. Like Oman, other GCC countries such as Kuwait and Bahrain, also face gas shortages, putting future EOR developments in competition with industrial development. Using solar for oil production will redirect gas towards LNG export, power generation or the private sector.


Solar colours set to shine

While today's silicon solar panels have become common, several factors - affordability, a complicated production process, and their bulky aesthetics - are holding them back.

Instead, imagine an alternative design: translucent, coloured, and cheaper to produce. For more than 25 years, our laboratory at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne (EPFL) has been working on dye-sensitised solar cells, a new generation of solar cells that meets these criteria.

 

Invented by Prof Michael Graetzel of EPFL, dye-sensitised solar cells do away with the dark silicone-based photovoltaic panels, replacing them with coloured, power-producing windowpanes.


The new dye-sensitised solar cells can be set up vertically and still maintain their efficiency, making them more useful in desert zones. Not only that, they are more efficient when the weather is hot.

Although dye-sensitised solar cells are less efficient at converting solar energy into electricity, they make up for this by converting diffuse and even artificial light, exploiting light from indoors and outdoors.

 

CONFERENCES & EXHIBITIONS
Featured Event
SASIA & Solarplaza host 2nd Annual Solar Trade Mission Saudi Arabia 
and Desert Solar Conference & Exhibition - September 14 - 18 - Riyadh, KSA

Solar Trade Mission 2014"The perfect way to discover, evaluate and build partnerships in the Saudi Arabia solar market" 


Solar Trade Mission - Event details - click here

Global & Regional Solar Event Calendar - Click here
KAUST Rooftop Solar
Place your AD here
Power-Gen Middle East Oct 12-14, 2014
Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. 
Solarpraxis Solar Investment
Place your AD here.
Driving Qatar's Solar Energy Future Today  17 - 18 November 2014, The Ritz-Carlton, Doha
West Bay Lagoon - Qatar

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Published by - Solar GCC Alliance
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