Renewable Energy Grows in an Unlikely Place: the Sunny Mideast

[burfman]

Source: NY Times

The region’s biggest energy divide is between countries rich in oil and gas, most notably Saudi Arabia, and those that must buy fuel beyond their own borders. Both have an incentive to expand solar generation — oil- and gas-producing nations so they can sell more of what they drill and importers to reduce their dependence on volatile international markets.

Not surprisingly, though, it is the energy importers who are moving most aggressively.

For countries like Jordan, which endured disruptions to natural gas supplies from Egypt when a pipeline was repeatedly bombed during the Arab Spring uprisings, energy independence is a question of political and economic security.

The Shams Ma’an solar farm, built by First Solar and owned by a consortium of companies, began commercial operation in September near the ancient city of Petra, generating enough power for 35,000 homes, First Solar, which is based in Arizona, said.

And the 38-turbine Tafila wind farm increased Jordan’s total power capacity by 3 percent when it opened last year, said Masdar, one of the project’s developers.


The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority said in May that it had received a bid of 2.99 United States cents per kilowatt-hour from developers vying to be part of the third phase of the giant Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park, expected to be among the world’s largest when complete.

It was a record that did not stand long. In September, neighboring Abu Dhabi received a bid of 2.42 cents, marking another milestone in a sector whose costs have been dropping drastically toward competitiveness with more traditional fuels.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/03/business/energy-environment/renewable-energy-grows-in-an-unlikely-place-the-sunny-mideast.html?action=click&contentCollection=Energy%20%26%20Environment%20&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

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I don't know what to make of those prices - 2.99 cents per kilowatt-hour in Dubai and 2.42 center per kilowatt-hour in Abu Dhabi.

Maybe it's due to the amount of sunny days per year and the fact that they have lots of 'free' land to build on out in the desert.

Sounds really cheap, pretty much what the price for burning coal is as shown on Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source


Things continue to get better for cleaning up the air on this planet.

Burfman.........

[forest444]

1. This proves that today's GOP isn't as bad as Middle Eastern theocracies.

It's worse.

[Crowman1979]

2. If we geographically allocate our renewable correctly, we could power the whole nation.

Solar in the southwest, wind all over the farms in tornado alley, geothermal in the mountains, tidal on the coasts. The possibilities are endless.

[kristopher]

3. Throw off those shackles...

That regionalized approach is predicated on cost modeling that is no longer applicable. Improvements in efficiencies of wind turbines for lower wind speeds and rapidly declining costs for both wind and solar means that harvesting locally is now a practical alternative almost everywhere.