Sharm El Sheikh: November, 2022
Khaled Sharbatly, CEO of Desert Technologies Investments, a leading investment company in the field of renewable energy and smart infrastructure, stressed that COP 27 provides a unique opportunity for stakeholders to face challenges and move from the thinking and commitment stage to the solutions and implementation stage, adding that the transition to renewable energy sources is a strategic option to provide affordable energy and achieve economic growth. This requires more legislations that contribute to doubling the volume of investments in renewable energy to place the world on the path to achieving net zero emissions by 2060.
This came during his participation in the panel titled: “Innovative Solutions and Enabling Environments” within the activities of the Energy Day of the “COP 27”, which focused on the importance of development in the field of renewable energy and adopting the latest technologies to reach reliable products and reduce electricity production costs through the circular carbon economy approach.
Sharbatly added that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates are making great efforts to increase and promote the use of renewable energy through institutional, regulatory and legislative reforms aimed at increasing investments in the renewable energy sector as the governments of the three countries have approved strict goals to adopt clean energy technologies. They have also placed a high priority on reducing greenhouse emissions significantly, in compliance with the recommendations made by the Paris Climate Summit. With their year-round sunny climate which makes solar energy an obvious choice for efforts to develop renewable energy systems; Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE have invested heavily in the field of infrastructure, to be attractive to investors from the local and foreign private sectors.
He pointed out that African countries have a great opportunity to be a huge market player and seize its untapped potential since it is home to 60 percent of the world’s solar energy resources, and yet nearly 800 million Africans live without electricity. This limits the ability of people to access information, education and health services. Sharbatly stated: “in order to reach our goals in Africa, we must work to increase the volume of investments in renewable energy technologies and rely on high-quality, reliable, internationally known and bankable products. Whether it was in the sector of solar panels, batteries or Wind turbines, to help African countries expand their capacities, especially as the costs of generating electricity from solar energy decreases.”
Sharbatly stressed that the Sahara Solar Containers, produced by Desert Technologies, the leading Saudi company to produce solar containers to generate electricity and provide high-efficiency model solutions to provide energy off the electrical grid, and has taken upon itself a commitment to transform markets outside the electrical grid into markets based on clean and renewable energy in order to achieve sustainable positive transformation, especially in remote off-grid rural areas. Adding that Sahara’s mobile product, which was shown to the public in the green area during COP27 works, is available in three models: Sahara 35 kW, Sahara 60 kW, and Sahara 60 Plus, in addition to the container designated for charging electric cars. This includes solar units, inverters, batteries, control unit and solar panels that are installed on prefabricated structures, to generate electricity in an easier, faster and less costly manner, which helps provide a fertile environment suitable for multiple uses in remote areas and in African countries. He mentioned that the solar and wind energy industries are ready to provide the required technologies in order to achieve international goals, but they face some challenges in many countries, especially Africa. Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen political efforts to create favorable conditions to expand renewable energy projects.
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