A Bright Future for Solar Power in the Middle East

[Gomig-21]

Try to live in UK for few weeks.

I'm guessing the way you worded that you meant that "IF I lived in the UK for a few weeks, I would hear that term." Am I correct? If so, no thanks. I've been there several times and even went with my nephew to see Arsenal play a few years ago (never heard that term) and a few days there is about all I can stand of constant overcast and drizzly weather and driving on the wrong side of the road and trying to understand some form of English. Yeah, no thanks.

 

[ashok321]

I'm guessing the way you worded that you meant that "IF I lived in the UK for a few weeks, I would hear that term." Am I correct? If so, no thanks. I've been there several times and even went with my nephew to see Arsenal play a few years ago (never heard that term) and a few days there is about all I can stand of constant overcast and drizzly weather and driving on the wrong side of the road and trying to understand some form of English. Yeah, no thanks.

English terminology varies between the Atlantic.

UK = Schedule:

American = Schedule:

Now;
Football pitch:

 

[KediKesenFare3]

"Nothing happening" is a inaccurate claim. Quite a lot has been happening lately. You can research it on your own or start taking a look at the articles posted in this very thread. Is more needed to be done? Certainly. Will more be done? That is a certainty.

I stopped having unrealistic aims for this region and I rather prefer things to go slowly if done correctly. Whether it is about renewable energy or social, economic and political changes.

The potential is there and clear for everyone so we will just have to wait. It's not like the sun is suddenly going to stop shinning in KSA or elsewhere in the region.

BTW KSA is a notoriously secretive nation. Sometimes what is reported as "news" is something that have occurred long ago. I would not be surprised if the progress is much bigger than what is known so far by the average person. Not everything is disclosed.

Just look at the actual figures and you'll understand my criticism.

 

[Gomig-21]

We should be the leading region of the world regarding solar energy but we aren't. Are we lazy or are we just dumb?

We've had a tough time adjusting our mentality to get past the regional, political tensions and specifically getting past our primal ways of thinking (at least in Egypt's case, I don't think so much Turkey) that our leaders were mired in. In the 30-odd years or so of Mubarak's selfishly imposed rule, he hardly looked beyond the improvements of quality of life for the people, and he didn't even do a great job at that either. We failed at being visionary. We only looked at short term solutions and couldn't break out of the mold of not seeing beyond even a decade. Our defunct mentality is what made us lag behind.

We might have turned the corner, though. Amazing the hurdle that has been!?

Turkey has always been ahead of most in the region. I think a lot of that has to do with its geographic connection to Europe. It's inevitable that influences would be greater when you're directly connected with countries that have excelled in scientific and technological innovations.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Just look at the actual figures and you'll understand my criticism.

The actual numbers are not too bad and are typical of a nation who is just at the beginning of the road in this endeavor (solar energy).

A 50 billion dollar investment is no joke.

Why Saudi Arabia's $50bn renewable energy programme is credible

The plan will set new benchmarks in competitiveness, commercial attractiveness and execution.

By Ahmed S. Nada
Sunday, 26 February 2017 2:20 PM

When the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) released its request for qualification (RFQ) for 700 megawatts (MW) of solar and wind energy generation assets last week, there was a collective scramble by the renewable energy industry to examine its contents.

This was, after all, the much-anticipated launch of the kingdom’s planned 9.5-gigawatt (GW) renewable energy program, one of the largest opportunities available to the industry today.

On the day that the RFQ was released, His Excellency Khalid A. Al Falih, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, reiterated his goal to make the program “the most attractive, competitive, and well-executed” of its kind in the world.

What’s more, is that his comments were backed by an RFQ that is clearly designed to ensure that only the industry’s most financially and technologically credible players make it to the next stage in the procurement process.



For those of us in the renewable energy business who have consistently engaged with numerous stakeholders in the kingdom over the past few years, this was a welcome assurance from the highest levels of government.

It was also apparent that Saudi Arabia, with the support of its advisors, is making a concerted effort to avoid the pitfalls that other fast-emerging markets have had to endure when rapidly ramping up their renewable energy portfolios.

For instance, by putting in place stringent pre-qualification criteria, the kingdom is, in effect, avoiding the risk associated with inadvertently including inexperienced, unqualified bidders in the procurement process.

Critically, there are indications that the later stages of the process will mandate that bidders source their technology from bankable, top-tier suppliers that have the financial strength to stand behind their performance guarantees and product warranties.

At a time when the stability of a number of photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturers is being called into question, this will, once again, lower risks while boosting the financial credibility of the assets being added to the programme.

There is other evidence that the kingdom is effectively managing risk, the size of the tender being the most apparent one. While REPDO could just as easily have tendered larger projects, it has prudently chosen project sizes that allow for important learnings to be carried forward through the remaining phases of the programme, while also sufficiently benefiting from the economies of scale.

It has also underpinned the programme’s success by funneling it through a single department — REPDO is an office of the Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources — rather than the previous approach of giving numerous stakeholders the task of executing.

It is clear that the tender for 300MW–700MW of solar PV and 400MW of wind is just the beginning, with immediate plans to rapidly scale the kingdom’s renewable energy portfolio to just over one-third of the 9.5GW target.

Our hope is that, in order to supplement the focus on utility-scale power generation, Saudi Arabia will also take a closer look at tapping into the potential for large commercial and industrial (C&I) solar applications. An evolutionary step towards Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy goals would be the implementation of ‘wheeling’ policies that will allow independent power producers that own renewable energy assets to supply clean electricity to their customers using the state-owned grid.

Hypothetically speaking, in such a scenario a privately-owned solar power plant could sign a commercial Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a petrochemical processing facility or a large dairy farm located 100 kilometres away. The solar power plant will supply electricity to the national grid, offsetting the conventionally generated energy consumed by the petrochemical facility or farm, while the grid operator benefits financially from a wheeling fee.

If structured well, such a program could provide the incentive needed to remove energy subsidies for certain industries, while allowing them to benefit from the new economic realities of solar electricity.

Mature renewable markets that have successfully initiated their own energy transitions will testify to the fact that a multi-pronged approach is needed to deliver on targets and to do so cost-effectively; in a majority of instances, a multi-pronged strategy includes utility-scale, small-scale residential, and C&I-focused programs.

It is now evident that Saudi Arabia has a credible renewable energy program that is designed to ensure that the country builds up a reliable, cost-competitive portfolio of world-class power generation assets. It has achieved this at its own pace, undeterred by the naysayers and speculators, and there is no doubt in my mind that its success will be underpinned by a determination to achieve its well-defined goals, but also to set new benchmarks in terms of competitiveness, commercial attractiveness and execution.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/why-...able-energy-programme-is-credible-664655.html

News from just a few days ago:

Saudi Arabia sets opening date for 300MW solar project
25 SEPTEMBER, 2017 BY ANDREW ROSCOE

Photovoltaic solar plant is first project under kingdom’s National Renewable Energy Programme

https://www.meed.com/sectors/power-...-date-for-300mw-solar-project/5021494.article

Earlier from this month:

Saudi Arabia Solar & Wind Energy Market Outlook to 2021: Ken Research
Posted Sep 12, 2017 at 11:22 pm

Saudi Arabia Cleantech Energy Market

Saudi Arabia is diversifying its energy mix to cut on its green house gas emissions. It has been producing the electricity by using clean energy resources and is now increasing the capacity to generate more power by using these natural resources. The country has set a target of generating 9.5 GW of energy by using renewable sources of energy by 2023. An interim target of producing 3.45 GW by using renewable sources of energy is set to be achieved by 2020 under the National Transformation Program (NTP). The photovoltaic solar energy segment leads the generation of electricity from renewable energy with the installed capacity of ~MW at the end of 2016. However wind energy sector is still under the development phase and the government is introducing various projects to expand this sector.

Saudi Arabia Solar Energy Market

At the end of 2016, the total installed capacity of solar photovoltaic technology was ~MW whereas there was no installation of the CSP based solar technology. The solar segment of the country grew by more than ~ times from the year 2011 to 2016. The solar projects commissioned in the country were Princess Noura University Solar Water Heating Project, Saudi Aramco North Park PV and many more. Over the past few years, the solar PV has started becoming more efficient and cost effective. The cost of solar PV has declined by almost 80.0% from the year 2009 to 2016.

The EPC market size of solar energy market in the year 2016 was USD ~ million. The market of EPC for solar segment grew at a CAGR of ~% from 2011 to 2016. The reduction in the subsidies for the electricity generated by the conventional sources of energy has led to the increase in the investments of renewable sources sector which has increased the size of EPC market.

Based on allocated and announced tenders, the total installed capacity by the end of 2019 is expected to reach ~MW. Some large projects with total installed capacity of ~MW are expected to start. The total value of EPC market in the year 2019 is assumed to be USD ~ million. The projects that are estimated to be completed and commissioned by 2019 are Al Khafji solar PV powered desalination facility, ISCC Duba 1 project, Waad Al Shamal ISCC plant and many more.

Saudi Arabia Wind Energy Market

The annual average wind speed experienced by Saudi Arabia is approximately between 6-8 m/s. Currently no wind power project is operating in the country however a power plant of ~MW will be installed at Tabuk. The plant is expected to be operational by 2019. The companies that qualified the bids after the proposals were called are Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), GE, Marubeni Corporation, Mitsui & Co., JGC Corp, SNC Lavalin Arabia and Iberdrola Renovables Energia.

The market for wind power in Saudi Arabia is expected to grow by approximately ~ times during 2017 to 2019. The country has installed its first wind turbine in the year 2017 and a very large project of ~MW is under construction. The total value of EPC market of wind energy market in 2017 is estimated to be USD ~ million and in 2019, the value of EPC will be around USD ~ million. The major projects coming in this sector are of Midyan Wind energy project and Saudi Aramco’s wind turbine project.

Companies Operating in Saudi Arabia Cleantech Energy Segment

Market for Saudi Arabia cleantech energy is dominated by players like GE, Saudi Aramco, Suntech Power Holdings, Sun & Life, Millennium Energy Industries and many more. Other companies operating in cleantech energy market are ACWA Power, Afandi Group, Desert Technologies, Green Gulf, KACST, Taqnia Energy and others.

Key Topics Covered in the Report

• Saudi Arabia Cleantech Energy Market Introduction, Market Size, and Market Segmentation.
• Saudi Arabia Solar Energy Market Size and Market Segmentation.
• Saudi Arabia Solar Rooftop Panel Scenario.
• Saudi Arabia Solar Energy EPC Market Size and Future Projection.
• Saudi Arabia Solar Energy Market Size Future Projection by Installed Capacity.
• Saudi Arabia Wind Energy Market Introduction.
• Saudi Arabia Wind Energy EPC Future Outlook.
• Saudi Arabia Wind Energy Market Size Future Projection by Installed Capacity.
• Competitive landscape of major players in Saudi Arabia Cleantech Energy market.
• Trends and Developments in Saudi Arabia Cleantech Energy Market.
• Issues and challenges in Saudi Arabia Cleantech Energy Market.
• SWOT Analysis of Saudi Arabia Cleantech Energy Market.
• Analyst recommendations.

To know more about the research report:

https://www.kenresearch.com/energy-...rabia-cleantech-energy-market/138231-103.html

Contact:

Ken Research

Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing & Communications

query@kenresearch.com

+91-124-4230204

https://www.eeweb.com/blog/ken_rese...nd-energy-market-outlook-to-2021-ken-research

Patience. However I do agree that much more needs to be done and at a faster rate. However this is KSA/Middle East/developing world so having unrealistic expectations is a waste of time and not healthy.

 

[KediKesenFare3]

Turkey has always been ahead of most in the region. I think a lot of that has to do with its geographic connection to Europe. It's inevitable that influences would be greater when you're directly connected with countries that have excelled in scientific and technological innovations.

I don't buy this argument. Our closest European neighbours are Bulgaria and Greece. One is the poorest country of Europe, even much poorer than Turkey. The other one is broke since centuries. Morocco, however, is geographically, historically and culturally very close to Spain which is one of the main pillars of the European civilization. On top of that, Morocco has a FTA with the US.
Algeria was 132 years under French rule. Why didn't they adopt the progressivity, rule of law, modernity, the social modus vivendi of French? Why isn't the GCC the centre of science, the economic powerhouse of the Middle East (I'm not referring to GDP figures) with all of its gigantic financial resources? We're talking about trillions of USD.
Every Middle Eastern nation had its fair chance to become more prosperous in the past. That's the bitter truth.
In my opinion, Turkey is no role model because we too need a role model to look up to. I am not satisfied at all with Turkey's situation today. But don't use fake arguments to justify your failures or qualify other people's success. It reminds me of some Turks who constantly claim that foreign powers are interfering in our affairs which is slowing down our development. Blablabla. We're dumb and other nations are taking advantage of our mistakes. That's the whole story.

 

[Gomig-21]

I don't buy this argument. Our closest European neighbours are Bulgaria and Greece. One is the poorest country of Europe, even much poorer than Turkey.

Since the end of WWII and the ensuing aftermath, all the advancements of the major countries of Europe (France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland even Russia) has influenced the majority of countries, to some extent or another that are geographically connected to it. What they ended up doing with that influence is another matter. Turkey applied it pretty well. Look at infrastructure, banking, education and even defense industry. Turkey has done pretty well for itself through that connection and that's not an indication of 'dependence,' per say, but wise application. The way it developed an immense partnership with the US and the way it recognized Israel and developed an open relationship with it was nothing short of brilliant strategy. Recognizing the clout Israel had with the US, UK, France and Germany was undeniably a great benefit to tap into and exploit. How can anyone say that wasn't brilliant and sound strategy for one's benefit and prosperity?

Algeria was 132 years under French rule. Why didn't they adopt the progressivity, rule of law, modernity, the social modus vivendi of French?

They have, to a certain extent. Algeria is doing quite well in a very independent manner despite it fighting that French colonization for decades. Colonization doesn't necessarily bring prosperity. But I do agree with you in that it should also influence development and it actually has.

Why isn't the GCC the centre of science, the economic powerhouse of the Middle East (I'm not referring to GDP figures) with all of its gigantic financial resources? We're talking about trillions of USD.

A big part is because of our well known stubbornness and close-minded attitude. We have our strong traditions and heritage and more importantly our religion that when all combined should make us the most capable, but we haven't been able to find that connectivity which would lead us out of this self-imposed trap. Along with that infamous tribal mentality comes distrust and paranoia and internal strife followed by lack of unity. That lack of unity and distrust which leads to a lack of vision has been our detriment.

Every Middle Eastern nation had its fair chance to become more prosperous in the past. That's the bitter truth.

I don't think anyone would disagree with that. But it's not because we're dumb. We were afraid to break out of our mold, that's been the glaring problem.

In my opinion, Turkey is no role model because we too need a role model to look up to.

Everyone needs a role model, that goes without saying, but it's also undeniable that Turkey is a role model in the MENA region and beyond. Despite our politics that have created tensions between both our countries, it would be foolishly avoiding reality not to see that.

Speaking of role models and what you said, it reminded me of a famous NBA basketball player who played for the Boston Celtics (Larry Bird) considered one of the best NBA players of all time and just before he retired, Michael Jordan was at moving into his prime and taking over the reigns from Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and they asked Larry how he viewed his career and how Micheal Jordan was taking over the league and I'll never forget what he said; "No matter how great you are, there's always someone out there greater than you."

I am not satisfied at all with Turkey's situation today.

That's good, there's always room for improvement, no matter the status quo.

But don't use fake arguments to justify your failures or qualify other people's success. It reminds me of some Turks who constantly claim that foreign powers are interfering in our affairs which is slowing down our development. Blablabla.

I'm guessing that comment was not necessarily directed at me but in general. My point is we've had a tough time adjusting our mentality and our ways of thinking, to adapt to the necessary changes and improve. That's been our fault and we can certainly blame our leaders for that. They were tasked -- of their own volition -- with that responsibility and so it was incumbent on them to provide that leadership. They failed miserably.

You might not like this, but despite what Sisi did with his guns and power and his many other flaws as a leader, what he's been doing for Egypt (and doing right now) is the exact type of leadership we needed 40+ years ago, and he's doing it during Egypt's most trying economic times.

We're dumb and other nations are taking advantage of our mistakes. That's the whole story.

That's harsh, lol. If you're using the word "dumb" to insinuate our level of intelligence, that's obviously furthest from the truth. If you're implying that we've been stuck with our primitive, tribal mentality and haven't been able to break out of that for the sake of improving, then I agree.