Brussels, 16/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has announced its firm commitment in projects promoting renewable energy, especially solar power. At the 5th renewable energy conference in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region (MENAREC 5), UfM Secretary General Fathallah Sijilmassi set out the roadmap his organisation has assigned itself and, on the sidelines of the conference, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Desertec Industrial Initiative consortium and the Observatoire méditerranéen de l'énergie (OME).
Sijilmassi said that developing renewable energy and energy efficiency is an absolute necessity for the Mediterranean region, which, he said “has huge potential” (high solar irradiation, often exceptional conditions for wind power, and vast areas of land available, for example) to be able to satisfy both domestic and external, in particular European, demand.
Domestically, “over 80% of electricity generation in the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean is from fossil fuels, and the remainder is hydro-power” and demand is growing by 6-7% per annum. This means, Sijilmassi argues, that additional generation capacity of 200 GW will have to be brought on stream by 2030 (120 GW at present). “This is a particularly good time”, he said. “Renewable energy, especially wind and solar, are developing rapidly and costs are coming down. In some instances, wind power is already able to compete with fossil energy” and photovoltaic solar power will attract attention “in the next few years”. Germany is among the countries most actively engaged in this area, in particular through the major Desertec project. Sijilmassi has announced that he will shortly travel to Berlin for discussions on “achieving, by 2020, an installed capacity of 20 GW of electricity from renewable sources, principally wind and solar, exporting some of the electricity generated in this way to the EU to encourage viable, sustainable projects, promoting control of energy demand and energy efficiency in all the countries of the region and creating jobs and industrial capacity in the countries of the southern Mediterranean”.
Sijilmassi also spoke of the general framework of the action he wants the UfM to take. It is “imperative”, in the light of the “profound change” the region and the global economy are experiencing, that a “policy framework for regional cooperation based on a strategic vision and definite projects” is put in place.
“The determined support of the European institutions”, enhances the chances of success. The EU's taking over the joint presidency of the UfM confirms the organisation's joint nature, he said, stating, too, that the “new governance and the henceforth direct involvement of the European institutions highlights new synergies and bolsters the UfM's position as a main player in regional cooperation”.
The UfM Secretariat is, therefore, developing “determined action in sectors that are of crucial importance to the region, such as transport, energy, water, research, employment and projects admittedly of varying scales but which all have in common that they are essential to the future of the region”. This is the gamble the UfM is making at the moment, and it will be most apparent in the energy sector. Sijilmassi spoke of two other flagship projects: the desalination plant in Gaza and completion of the central section of the trans-Maghreb motorway which will link Casablanca to Algiers and Tunis. “We are working on identifying projects, technical assistance for promoters, financial packages with our network of international financial institutions, bilateral funding and the growing involvement of the private sector, and we are making sure that implementation of the project is properly monitored”, he said. (FB/transl.rt)