Solar Energy in GCC Construction - Construct Arabia

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Solar Energy in GCC Construction September 2012 Kuwait too with the largest solar irradiation levels across the GCC offers vast potential for adoption of both PV and CSP technologies. Studies have shown that installation of BIPV in residential homes can provide an average surplus of 25000 kilowatt hour per year of electricity generated after meeting their individual electricity needs and achieve cost savings of at least 25 percent in energy usage of households. Though Kuwait was one of the first to embrace and adopt solar energy in its construction with the Kuwait English School becoming the first building in the Middle East to harness solar energy using BIPV panels in 1984 itself. Though enthusiastic projects such as solar cooling for the Ministry of Kuwait Building, PV systems for agricultural green houses, a solar desalination system and a 100 KW solar thermal power station did emerge in the eighties, interest in solar energy in Kuwait construction petered out citing technical and economic viability issues and it was only in 2006 that Kuwait's First Gold LEED rated building the Sabah Al Ahmed Financial Center again adopted significant solar energy usage in its building design. However, BIPV has caught on in a big way with the government encouraging projects such as two buildings of the Ministry of Electricity and Water and a new airport terminal to incorporate solar panels and BIPV technology. Oman too has a high potential for harnessing solar energy across construction though the available area is limited by the small size of the country. In fact, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Oman’s main oil company is actively pursuing technologies to adopt solar steam generation techniques from CSP in its Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) projects. Oman has encouraged proposals for individual solar pilot projects, mostly on a Build Operate and Own basis, which have plans of being implemented to reduce its dependence on gas as a feedstock. Foreign participation too has actively been garnered such as the US$ 2 billion PV solar power project that includes production of the silicon, solar panels and aluminium frames for the project that would produce 120 MW solar panels a year financed by German venture capitalists including training cum transition phase for the local workforce. A 200 MW solar plant and a 400 MW PV station are also commissioned to be ready by 2013 and 2016 respectively, further boosting the solar energy applications across Oman. Qatar, like all the countries in the region has a high potential in terms of irradiation levels to exploit both CSP and PV solar technologies. However, the costs continue to be high when compared to traditional technologies such as gas turbines which use resources that the country has abundant supply of. However, this has not deterred Qatar from introducing solar energy as an alternative and a green construction technique across its various projects, pioneering technologies such as the artificial cloud that has solar panels to absorb the suns radiation and convert it to energy utilized to cool its stadiums while protecting www.constructarabia.com www.ventures-me.com P a g e : 12
Solar Energy in GCC Construction September 2012 the players from the harsh rays of the sun while a match was in progress. It also has a dedicated Qatar Solar Technology (QSTec) manufacturing uring facility to commercially produce solar technologies for PV cells and solar modules. It is expected with constant innovation and technological development the costs of adopting solar energy would gradually come down. Plans to generate power using solar technology also have been included in the national strategy though they are still at the nascent stage. The World Cup 2022 has however, provided ample opportunities to test commercially a number of solar technologies for air conditioning and cooling of stadiums, convention centres and venues for the event. The Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) too has ratings and credits for adopting renewable solar energy that have set a benchmark for construction projects across the globe. Saudi Arabia, the largest amongst the GCC states has a very high potential for the use of CSP technology, added to its long coasts that also provide a greater coastal CSP potential for producing power and water desalination plants using solar power. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in research and development programmes for development of solar technologies to meet its surging demand for power and water in recent years that is expected to be extremely difficult for hydrocarbon fuels to meet without reducing exportable surplus if it continues at its current pace. A number of private institutions have also been roped in to lead these research projects with the aim of producing commercially viable and low cost technology using its most abundant resource namely solar power. Projects in collaboration with international players for power generation using solar panels are another popular trend in Saudi Arabia, researched to meet climatic and geographical stipulations and allowing for expansion to large commercialisation at later stages. Availability of capital, low energy prices, and large demand potential make Saudi Arabia an attractive market for both CSP and upstream PV manufacturing activities such as the manufacturing of silicon ingots and wafers to help feed the region’s solar technology market. Though targets for incorporating solar energy in the energy mix and investment is in place the efforts for deployment in commercially viable projects across Saudi Arabia have been scattered and insignificant so far. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), by virtue of its thriving construction industry has also the largest Co2emissions across the region, adding to its common regional need to diversify from hydrocarbon dependence is also the need to use renewable energy to reduce its carbon footprint. The potential of UAE for harnessing solar energy is huge with its large irradiation levels as it is also located along the region’s solar belt. Similar to Saudi Arabia, studies for potential of CSP technology have been found more financially and technologically viable than PV technology and through establishment of its first carbon neutral city www.constructarabia.com www.ventures-me.com P a g e : 13
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Solar Energy in GCC Construction - Construct Arabia

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