Energy ministers from UAE, Jordan, Egypt confirmed as speakers
 
Dubai, UAE, September 14, 2016:   Energy ministers and international experts representing countries and organisations with a combined 5.6 GW in installed solar power capacity – enough to power almost 1 million homes – will address the Global Solar Leaders’ Summit at Dubai World Trade Centre in September.

“The Middle East has a huge potential in the solar industry and we are delighted to have secured leading experts from regional government and the solar industry to speak at the Global Solar Leaders’ Summit,” said Muhammed Kazi, Event Director at dmg events. “Each speaker will bring collective insights that can drive the region towards its ambitious solar targets.”

The UAE has targeted sourcing 25 percent of its power from a combination of nuclear and solar energy by 2030, while in Jordan, the rapid growth of solar industries has seen plans revised to include 1 GW of solar power by 2020, up from the original target of 600MW. In Egypt, the government has targeted 30 percent wind and solar energy generation.

The Summit will focus on ‘Powering a Renewable Energy Future’, including the markets, policies, technology, and project finance that will be required as the industry grows. One of the main highlights of the Summit will be a roundtable on building a renewable energy economy in the Middle East, in which the UAE will be represented by Taher Diab, Senior Director of Strategy & Planning, Secretary General of the Emirates Energy Award, and member of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy.

In recognition of the fact that analysts have called 2015 a tipping point for solar energy in the Middle East, a session will focus exclusively on the sustainable finance landscape for solar projects, with contributions from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Societe General, and International Finance Corporation. Total global corporate funding raised by public companies in the solar industry hit US$25.3 billion according to a report published in 2015 by Mercom Capital, and access to increasing information on country-specific risk is a key reason why project finance is set to play a critical role in the growth of the region’s solar market.

With a power construction project pipeline of US$275 billion, Saudi Arabia has big targets for its solar industry.  Hadi Tahboub, President at Middle East Solar Industry Association believes “With the Saudi government setting up a two trillion dollar investment fund for the post-oil era, we can't but to take their (even though reduced from recent past plans) renewable energy agenda with seriousness.  When you have periods where up to 70% of the kingdom's electricity is guzzled up by air-conditioning needs, the Kingdom clearly recognises the need for a shift in the power production's balance of power.  Despite the announcement of a quarter of the previous goals for implementing renewable energy (which today is 9.5GW under their Vision 2030 program), and adding to that the plunging prices of solar PV technologies, we could also stipulate that with dedicated government efforts, a new target of 15% plus minus could be achieved via renewable energy in the Kingdom.”

The Summit will be held in Dubai on 19 September 2016 as part of the Intersolar Middle East Conference on 19-20 September.

The exhibition will be held in parallel between19-21 September 2016.