Development of Solar Energy: Change of Course for Arab Countries' Energy Strategies

摘要

Nowhere in the world is the development of solar energy undergoing such a rapid expansion as in the Middle East and North Africa. Three giant, transnational projects were announced between 2008 and 2010 - the Mediterranean Solar Plan, Desertec and Medgrid (originally known as Transgreen) - not to mention national programs formulated in almost all the countries concerned, which cover more than 130 new solar energy projects. Altogether, the national and transnational plans currently envisaged call for estimated investments totaling an average of ?11 billion a year over the 2011 -2020 period, according to different possible scenarios.