The high rate of energy consumption in the GCC is not sustainable and hence the need to diversify and deploy the usage of renewables, particularly solar, Michael Kramer the energy expert at Dubai-based
Taylor Wessing law firm, has said.
Kramer noted however, in a region where economies are largely supported by oil, things would not be expected to change overnight and therefore, “it is good that policy makers have realised that now is the time to diversify the region’s energy mix.”
In an interview with Alrroya.com, the energy expert cited countries that have taken long to develop viable renewable energy industry, particularly Germany, “and for that reason it cannot be expected that things here in the region will change immediately.”
“Energy does come at a cost and this proves to be true now even here in the Gulf. We are living in a region with the highest solar radiation levels on the planet, so including solar energy in the overall energy mix is an obvious choice,” Kramer said.
Currently, there are some medium to large scale renewable energy projects throughout the region that have either been completed or are in the development phase. Most of these projects focus on solar energy, which is available in abundance in the whole Gulf region. Wind is usually not so much of a topic, simply because there are not many areas which would have sufficient constant wind to run wind turbines efficiently in the region.
Dubai for instance, recently unveiled plans for a 1,000 megawatt project at a cost of $3.2 billion. The emirate’s Supreme Council of Energy said the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park would help to diversify sources of energy specifically by using renewable energy to conserve resources and protect the environment from pollution.
Conventional energy power still has strong influence
Similarly, Abu Dhabi’s large scale solar projects such as Shams 1 and Noor 1 are at an advanced development phase.
“This is a good start, but renewable energy will account for a more significant share of the overall energy mix only if private investment into renewable (solar) energy generation is being encouraged, however, as to my knowledge, no scheme that would encourage such private investment into renewable energy generation is in place anywhere in the Gulf at present.”
“But I trust that this will change in the foreseeable future,” he added.
Lately, there has been aggressive emphasis on the implementation of renewable energy globally especially solar, but the usage of conventional energy power continues to have strong influence, especially in developing countries. Kramer however says that the two forms (conventional and solar) could complement the energy mix by generating energy at times when electricity consumption reaches its peak during the day.
“The beauty of solar energy is that it is easily deployable at comparatively low cost. It is a common problem in many developing countries that large parts of the population do not have access to electricity, simply because people do not have access to the grid. This is where small scale solar installations provide a good solution since they do not require any pre-existing grid infrastructure,” he says.
The energy expert acknowledges that solar energy does have some drawbacks, “which is why it is usually best backed by other forms of energy.”
“Solar energy is available only during the day, for example, but electricity is often required also during the night. That is why investments into a wider electricity infrastructure, involving (conventional) power plants as well as grid infrastructure still play a big role in developing countries,” he says.
“Where proper power plant and grid infrastructure exists, solar installations complement the energy mix by generating energy at times when electricity consumption reaches its peak during the day. At night, electricity must come from other sources which can, for example, be wind, biomass or geothermal, always depending on which sources are locally available. Conventional energy may also be required if energy generation from renewable sources does not provide a steady base load, but this again must be decided on a country by country basis.”
In developing its nuclear energy policy, the UAE is one of the countries that place this form of energy in the ‘renewable’ energy sector, but Kramer says nuclear power should not be considered as a clean energy source, due to its highly toxic nuclear waste.
“Nuclear power plants may not produce any immediate and direct emissions, but energy generation from nuclear sources does produce highly toxic nuclear waste, which is likely to be an even bigger problem than carbon emissions,” he said, while citing the Chernobyl and Fukushima cases.
Risks associated with nuke power immense
In 2009, the UAE awarded a South Korean consortium a landmark contact to build and operate four nuclear reactors, billed as one of the Middle East’s biggest ever energy contracts. The $40bn nuclear plant is scheduled to start supplying power to the UAE grid in 2017.
Kramer however says that the risks associated with nuclear energy are immense, and strongly discourages investment and development of its usage.
“Why invest into nuclear power generation, which has proven to be rather risky business, while the region is blessed with infinite amounts of risk free solar energy?” he posed.
“Personally I do not believe that nuclear energy generation is the future. The risk of wiping out entire landscapes is just too high. In my eyes the future lies in gradually replacing conventional energy generation with creation of energy from renewable sources,” Kramer said, adding “this will happen only if everybody, not only utility providers, takes an active role in changing the energy landscape of a country.”
“This requires some kind of financial incentive for private investors in order to ensure that investments into solar installations and the like turn out to be financially profitable.”
On January 1, 2012, the new German Renewable Energy Law came into force, which strongly advocates stoppage of nuclear power by 2022, and emphasises further expansion of the role of renewable energy in the electricity sector. While most countries in the GCC look at the EU success in renewable energies, Kramer says that individual states in this region “should not simply copy the incentive schemes that have been implemented in the EU.”
“Any incentive scheme must take local requirements into account,” he said.
“Factors that I believe need to be taken into account here in the UAE, for example, include the actual cost of energy generation, the fact that many people spend only a limited period of time in the country before repatriating to their home countries and, of course, the higher yield of electricity generation that can be expected from solar installations that are being operated in this part of the world.”
“Any incentive scheme for the UAE must take these factors into account in order to ‘work’, he said, adding, “However, a successful incentive scheme will inevitably lead to considerable investments into renewable energy generation for the greater good of the whole population.”
As the energy specialist at
Taylor Wessing Middle East, Michael Kramer’s responsibilities include assisting companies in the renewables field with their day-to-day legal needs.
He says however, up until now, “No actual solar market has developed in the region.”
“Therefore, we’re are trying to change this by, for example, offering legal support to policy makers in drafting the legal framework based on which a viable solar market could develop,” he said.
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