Falling renewable power costs represent a boon to promote sustainable energy in Bahrain and open the door to greater climate ambition.
“The costs of renewable solar and aeolian energy have dropped by 70 to 80 per cent over the past five years in Bahrain,” said Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) President Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.
He unveiled plans in the pipeline to further diversify sources of energy, as part of a two-pronged strategy to develop fossil and renewable energy.
He underlined SEA’s drive to attract regional and international firms to invest in renewable energy projects in Bahrain which would benefit the national economy.
He said that 250 Bahraini nationals have so far been trained on installing photovoltaic solar panels across Bahrain, pointing out that some trainees have chosen to set up their own privately-owned businesses.
“The growing use of solar energy will enable the government to redirect part of gas, being used to generate electricity, to benefit other strategic projects, such as petrochemical industries,” he said.
The national strategy aims to optimise energy efficiency by 6pc and attain 5pc of total energy production from renewable energy by 2025. The national blueprint also aspires to develop the rate of contribution of renewable energy to 15pc by 2035, alongside other efforts to boost fossil energies.
A project funded by the private sector is underway to build a 100MW solar plant in the Southern Governorate as part of the National Renewable Energy Action Plan.
In 2012, Bapco became the first Bahraini company to operate a 5MW solar plant. Tatweer Petroleum has recently inaugurated a 4MW solar unit, while Bahrain National Gas (Banagas) announced plans to install solar panels to reduce the consumption of electricity and enhance energy proficiency.
