Business Reporter
DOHA: Two experts have called for the appropriate use of both conventional and renewable sources in energy-deficit Arab countries which suffer from huge power shortages. About half the Arab region faces power shortage and 20% of its population have no access to electricity, according to Merwat Tallawy, executive secretary at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the 6th ESCWA session on Energy at the Ritz Carlton yesterday she said some Arab countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan faced acute power shortage.
“There are many places in these countries where either there is no power or there is frequent disruption in supply.
“While these countries meet their demand mostly with power supplies from the energy-rich Gulf region, the development of alterative sources of energy is in their interest,” Merwat said.
People in the region, she said, were now convinced about the need to develop alternative sources such as solar and wind power and nuclear energy.
That alternative sources of energy could complement conventional sources or even meet a large part of a country’s requirements is evident from France, where nuclear energy meets its 70% power needs.
In South Korea, 55% of the power needs are met from nuclear energy.
Although Merwet did not quantify the figure, she said huge investments were required to reach power to the “unreached” regions on the Arab world.
“But we must not look at the cost side. The benefits that will accrue from a region’s development because of the availability of power must be taken into account,” she suggested.
Merwet also said the global consumption for power would go up by about 50% by 2025 mainly due to two reasons- the growth in global population and the rapid development that takes place in countries such as China, India and Brazil.
Another ESCWA expert, Dr Anhar Hejazi said some energy-deficit countries such as Egypt and Jordan have a huge potential to tap wind power. Egypt already produces about 240MW of wind power, which is connected to the national grid.
Efforts to boost capacity to 850Mw are on. Similarly, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia have applications, though on a limited scale, to tap renewable energy sources, she added.
Delegates from various Arab countries are attending the two-day 6th ESCWA session on Energy at the Ritz Carlton.
In his keynote address at the opening session, Issa Shaheen al-Ghanam, the Qatari delegation head, and also the vice-chairman of Kahramaa, said Qatar’s energy policy was based on utilising energy entirely for human development.
“Also we attach a lot of importance on developing clean sources of energy. That’s why we are making huge investments in developing our LNG portfolio. Liquefied natural gas is among the cleanest forms of energy,” al-Ghanam said. |
