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In Abu Dhabi research in the field of solar energy is again led by Masdar. In May
2008, Masdar invested in a new company, Masdar PV, in Erfurt, Germany. Masdar PV is
constructing a thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility, which is expected to
produce more affordable panels. A similar facility will also be created in Abu Dhabi.
Masdar also invests in thermal solar energy, based on concentrators (mirrors) of
various shapes. It has established Torresol Energy, a joint venture between Masdar and
the Spanish engineering group Sener, which has three solar power plants under
construction in Spain with an approximate combined investment cost of $800 million. It
also has a project for concentrated solar power (CSP) in Abu Dhabi, called Shams 1: a
tender has been issued to invite companies to participate in this project, but the original
deadline was later delayed, and no firm progress has been made at the time of writing.
Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have been the most active among the GCC countries
in the field of solar energy, although smaller initiatives are also registered in the rest of
the group. 10 One Bahraini expert 11 has estimated that Bahrain alone will have to invest an
estimated $900 million in wind and solar power in the next decade to meet the growing
demand for energy. Similarly, he estimated that Kuwait would need to spend $2.5 billion
(BD 945 million), Oman $800 million (BD 302 million), Qatar $600 million (BD 226.8
million), Saudi Arabia $15 billion (BD 5.67 billion) and the UAE $5.1 billion (BD 1.9
billion). Against this investment new solar and wind electricity may reach 5 GW by 2015
(a minuscule contribution: Saudi Arabia alone consumed 160 GW in 2004 …).
Clearly, actual progress in the direction of implementing major solar energy
projects will be conditional on further decreases in the cost of the required equipment.
One notes that the Gulf countries are pragmatically leveraging their financial resources to
engage in international scientific cooperation and ‘import’ the best available technology,
with a very long-term approach. They expect eventually to be able to reap the benefit
because of favourable local conditions, also with respect to the production of the required
equipment (photovoltaic panels).
In a recent study, Yasser Al-Saleh, Paul Upham and Khaleel Malik have explored
several renewable energy scenarios for Saudi Arabia, based on a Delphi panel of thirty-
10 For a detailed analysis of these initiatives see EPU-NTUA 2009.
11 Professor Waheeb Alnaser, chairman of the Bahrain chapter of the International Solar Energy Society
(ISES), speaking at a conference organized by UNIDO in Bahrain in February 2009.
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