WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With the world moving towards a more sustainable future, many of the fossil-fuel companies and motor vehicle giants have had to introduce policies to shift to a cleaner energy solution in their plans. Solar energy has been one of the biggest sources of renewable energy but it will require vast plains to be covered with solar panels to suffice the need.
The Sahara desert, the world's driest place, is almost always full of sunlight and the lack of population density makes it easier to build the plants. Research has shown that, if used, the entire Sahara desert can generate seven times the electricity the world requires. However, due to ecological reasons and transport difficulties, researchers have advised building plants along the outskirts of the desert.
The Moroccan project Noor PV I, under the Desert to Power initiative, was initiated in 2009 to produce 2GW of renewable power. In January, the next step of the project named Noor PV II went underway as the country wants to bring up the use of solar electricity to 52% by 2030. 'For future projects in order to reach the objective, we will have about 6,000 MW in addition to what we sell represented in different technologies..solar, wind, hydro and mix between solar and CSP', said Tarik Bourquouquou, Masen's International Business Development Manager said at the virtual CEBC Annual Summit 2021 last week. Similarly, Middle East Solar Industry Association have boarded the bus and are willing to work on despite the increase in costs due to the pandemic.
While most of the world and businesses around the world suffered deeply due to the pandemic, the trade group responsible for the building of the projects in the Middle East, the Middle East Solar Industry Association, said in its mid-year outlook, 'After an unprecedented year like 2020, the pandemic did not impact the solar energy market as severely as anticipated. The integration of energy storage solutions is attracting the attention of many industry players. Experts believe that storage will be popularized rapidly in the near future to build stable energy systems. By mid-2021, the momentum to integrate several renewable projects is in place and can be witnessed in most MENA countries.'
The report added, 'As material shortages continued to ascend in Q1 of 2021, they could not bear the cost pressure,' MESIA said in the report. 'Eventually, industry makers revised their price cut policy and raised their bid quotations. Many others notified customers of the increase in prices.'
Qatar is expected to join in with an 800 MW energy production scheme as Bahrain's 100 Mw plant and Iraq's 750 Mw plants are yet to come into fruition. Oman is also expected to commission a 500 MW plant this year.
Apart from the solar plants, Morocco also has wind plants that generate 1320 MW. In the Desert to Power project, Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy assisted by African Development Bank plans to use public and private funds to build a 10 GW-facility by the end of 2025.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
