Enel Helping Oil Giants Make Transition to Renewable Energy

Annual electricity net generation from renewable energy in the world (1980-2011). Graphic courtesy of Lery007

Italian utility owner Enel SpA says now is the tine to approach middle eastern countries to get on board with renewable energy supplies as the cost of solar power falls along with oil.

Francesco Starace, CEO of Rome-based Enel said in an interview held in Abu Dhabi that, “We will wait for the first tenders in Saudi Arabia.” Dubai the second largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates, after Abu Dhabi, has begun a renewable program, along with Abu Dhabi. Starace said he would like to see Enel participate in that.

Starace has taken a pro-active position on developing greener sources of energy while scaling back on large power stations. Enel reintegrated its renewable energy division, Enel Green Power, last year, and is predicting a 39 percent cut in the use of fossil fuels over the coming five years for generating power. Two oil giants, Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, and the UAE, the fourth largest oil producer in OPEC, both would like to shrink their oil dependence and generate more power from solar and other sources.

Enel concluded an agreement with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority to help improve the emirate’s power grid. They also reached an agreement with the Saudi Electricity Company in January, 2017. Over the next five years Saudi Arabia would like to generate 10 gigawatts of power from solar, wind and other types of renewable energy, said Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih. By 2050 DEWA hopes to be able to produce three-quarters of its power from renewable sources.

 

APICORP: Show Interest in Funding Renewable Energy Projects in the UAE

Chief Executive Director General of the Arab Company for Petroleum Investments APICORP, Ahmed Al-Naimi, the company will contribute to financing projects in new and renewable energy that are performed in the UAE, and in Abu Dhabi in particular.

He said that APICORP representatives will visit Abu Dhabi soon, to study a number of projects in renewable energy, and determine the size of contributions to the Company, expected at the end of the meeting of the Board of Directors of APICORP in the Syrian capital Damascus yesterday, to encourage the Arab oil countries to re-launch a large number of energy projects for implementation, after being postponed due to the global financial crisis.

Ahmed Al-Naimi added that the board agreed to finance a project to establish an aluminum manufacturing plant for Ma’aden Arabia, which will cost a total of about 500 million dollars, contribute to (APICORP) in the amount of 75 million dollars.