Torresol - a joint venture between Spain's SENER and Abu Dhabi's Masdar, plans to invest up to $5 billion building 6 GW of concentrated solar-thermal power (CSP) projects over the next three years in the deserts of the MENA region, Spain, and the US. Although the sites are not yet named, at least one of the plants will be in Abu Dhabi.
The company ('torre' is Spanish for tower, and 'sol' for sun) says it is optimistic in getting the funding for its ambitious solar project pipeline. “Despite the ongoing economic troubles facing much of the world", says Torresol President Enrique Sendagorta, "we believe we can achieve our goals as foreign banks are becoming more interested in financing solar power projects because it is a winning investment”.
The first of the Desertec solar projects all use CSP, in Morocco, and in Algeria, and just today - in Tunisia.
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Wow, the Desertec vision is barreling into realization! A clean energy future where the world's deserts supply huge amounts of solar energy to the whole of humankind is truly becoming reality. Now the fourth Desertec project, by far the largest-ever solar plant in the world - for 2,000 MW of solar power - is to be built in Tunisia.
(Previous stories: Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar in 2012, then MedGrid joined up, providing the transmission needed, with the plan to export up to 5GW of renewable power by cable under the Mediterranean between North Africa and Europe as early as 2020, and then most recently, the 3rd Desertec Deal Signed – Algerian Solar.)
How huge will this solar project be? 2, 000 MW is six times the size of the largest solar CSP project ever built
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Greening your wedding is simple, chic and easy to do if you follow just a few of these suggestions. Eco-romantics about to tie the knot pay attention: Green Prophet has the scoop on making your day of love as green as possible without compromising on romance and style. From mass weddings in the Middle East […]
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Barcelona hopes to have an indoor ski slope as nice as Ski Dubai (pictured), but carbon neutral. Barcelona is not as hot as places like Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which now has an indoor snow ski slope. But they appear to be envious of Dubai’s very ungreen approach to denying that the country is a […]
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Putting political differences aside, Israelis and Palestinians unite to restore a section of the Kishon River – one of the region’s most polluted. Yet another joint Israeli and the Palestinian Authority eco-project challenges the mainstream notion that it’s all war and friction between Jews and Arabs. Despite a recent accusation by the French Parliament that […]
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A brilliant new online farming system in Egypt allows city dwellers to become reacquainted with their agrarian roots without leaving their urban comfort zone. Egyptian urbanites who have a desire to grow their own food but lack the farming skills now have access to a brilliant new remote farming system that has both an online […]
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Better Place Renault Fluence electric cars hit the road on way to customers After more than four years in the making, media reports and hype, visits to the Better Place Education and Test Drive Center and final delivery prices, Better Place Renault Fluence ZE electric cars are finally on their way to purchasers in Israel. […]
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Tourists offended by this gruesome display of endangered species reported the Picalbatros restaurant in Hurghada, Egypt to the local conservation agency. Tourists who dine at the Pickalbatros restaurant in Hurghada might be greeted with a gruesome scene: sharks, rays, and parrot fish hanging from hooks, Egypt Independent reports. While some people have turned a blind […]
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I speak to green campaigner Safa Al Jayoussi about nuclear power, green buildings and the role the region needs to play at the next climate summit in Qatar The next stop on my whirlwind tour of all that is green and eco in Jordan is the Green Building Council. And perfect timing too. It was […]
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A hearty vegan warm salad, perfect for winter. Chickpeas are a perennial favorite in the Middle East. Their earthy flavor is always wisely paired with something sharp, like onions, as in our chickpea sambusak recipe, or with lemon. And happily, artichokes are in season now. The two star in a hearty vegan salad that combines […]
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Ziad Tassabehji is one of the most influential men in the new green Middle East. Until now he’s kept pretty quiet about his involvement in Masdar. He came from the dot-com market with a boom and a bust, but in the Arab world. Ziad Tassabehji (pictured above with his son) has always been an entrepreneur […]
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This image taken in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia shows irrigation canals being dug by the agricultural firm owned by Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi. Last week BBC News reported that 70,000 indigenous people have been forced to relocate in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia to new villages that lack adequate resources for […]
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Greensoil, an investment firm from Canada will fund Israeli agritech companies with a reported $12 million. Cash from Canada will be funding clean technology companies in Israel. A new Canadian fund called Greensoil looks to build Israeli agritech companies with the launch of a $12 million CAN fund. Greensoil investors say they will invest in […]
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Abu Dhabi’s 75% government-owned National Energy Company TAQA has just created its first-ever division to specialize in investing in renewable energy. The new unit, Energy Solutions, will invest in wind, solar, thermal and hydro power, according to a report at The National. TAQA first evidenced an interest in clean energy in 2008, and it has committed to a $1.1 billion […]
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Egypt is now close to awarding a contract to build a 1,000 megawatt wind farm, to be up and running in 2016, that it first announced last year.
A wind farm this size has few equals worldwide. Egypt has some of the best wind power potential in the world, and its government is beginning to tap into this source of free fuel in earnest, since passing its plan to get 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, in order to stave off climate change.
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