EU Seeks to Advance Renewable Energy, Climate Change Policy Goals with Mediterranean, Gulf Countries
October 12, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
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Southern Mediterranean and Gulf regions have an important renewable energy potential, in particular for solar energy and wind power sources, which could contribute to enhancing the energy security of both all the countries in the region and the EU through future potential exports of "green electricity."
The major objective of the cooperation between the EU and the Mediterranean and Gulf countries in the field of renewable energy is to contribute to sustainable energy and climate change mitigation.
Furthermore, possibilities exist to create an integrated and interconnected "green energy market." Closer cooperation between the EU and the Mediterranean and Gulf partners also aims to address the areas of renewable energy research and development, joint projects and initiatives of common interest.
This policy goal of enhancing renewable energy cooperation was fully supported by the Mediterranean partners at the Euro-Mediterranean Energy Ministerial of December 2007 and later by the Union for the Mediterranean, which made the Mediterranean Solar Plan one of its flagship projects.
Renewable energy was identified by the EU and Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC) in July 2009 as a key element for enhancing mutual relations and cooperation.
Activities in the Mediterranean Region
Energy cooperation with the Mediterranean partner countries was developed in the framework of the Barcelona Process, with the aim of creating a fully integrated and interconnected Euromed energy market.
The expansion and deployment of renewable energy is currently a key element in cooperation between the EU and the Mediterranean countries. The Ministerial Conference in December 2007 confirmed the focus of the Euromed energy cooperation on promotion of sustainable development in the energy sector through increased use of renewable energy sources and improving energy efficiency and savings.
This focus is reinforced through activities of the Union for the Mediterranean, mainly through its flagship initiative - the Mediterranean Solar Plan, endorsed at the summit of July 13, 2008. The objective is the creation of 20 gigawatts of new generation capacity in solar energy and other renewable energy sources around the Mediterranean Sea by 2020.
A larger deployment of renewable energy in the region is possible. It will need an adequate legislative and regulatory framework, new technology and strengthened interconnections. The EC is pursuing a number of initiatives and projects in this area, which will be complemented by an EC proposal for a Mediterranean energy infrastructure initiative in 2010. This will outline, for example, a plan for strengthening regional electricity links.
Regional Cooperation
The EC provides broad technical assistance to the region, with a strong focus on building capacities for the development and deployment of renewable energy. The following projects illustrate the type of support the EU is providing on a sub-regional basis to underpin these objectives.
Support for the enhanced integration and the improved security of the Euro-Mediterranean Energy Market (MED-EMIP) aims to reinforce energy cooperation among all Mediterranean countries, with particular emphasis on the development of the necessary legislative and regulatory frameworks for large-scale utilization of renewable energy. The current European Community support of €4 million contributes to securing targeted expertise to national energy authorities of the beneficiary countries.
The Regional Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) facilitates development of renewable energy sources and promotion of energy-efficiency measures in the Southern Mediterranean partner countries. Since 2008, when the center was established in Cairo, the EC has provided a contribution under the MED-EMIP project to enable the launch and initial operation of the RCREEE.
In order to ensure that the respective regulatory frameworks for increased utilization of renewable energy are in place, the EC has been working together with the Italian authorities on enhancing cooperation between Mediterranean regulators through establishment of the Mediterranean Working Group on Electricity and Natural Gas Regulations (MEDREG). This working group contributes to institutionalized cooperation between the regulatory bodies in the region to achieve a consistent, harmonized and investment-friendly regulatory framework, whereas renewable energy aspects are addressed by a specialized working group. Since 2008, the EC has provided technical assistance of €300,000 for this project, with a follow-up under preparation.
Bearing in mind the importance of the infrastructures necessary for the deployment and exports of "green" energy, the European Community is contributing to the Maghreb Electricity Market Integration Project (IMME). The objective is to create a sub-regional electricity market between Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, and its progressive integration with the EU's electricity market. The EC has so far provided support of €5.6 million.
To boost energy-efficiency measures in the region and the use of solar energy in the construction sector, the EC is a major contributor to the project Energy Efficiency in the Mediterranean Construction Sector (MED-ENEC). During the first phase of the project (2006-2009) and with a European Community contribution of €4 million, cooperation was developed between Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. The second phase is currently being launched, with an extended focus on energy-efficiency measures across all sectors, and will benefit from an increased European Community contribution of €5 million.
The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) underlines the potential of enhanced international cooperation in energy research. Energy supply security and climate change are global issues with solutions that can be deployed worldwide, giving rise to huge markets but also to severe competition.
The EC financed a specific project addressing renewable energy in the Mediterranean region under the Sixth Research Framework Program. The two-year action plan for high-priority renewable energy initiatives in the southern and eastern Mediterranean area included such activities as compiling a solar and wind energy resource atlas for these regions; identifying and prioritizing potential demonstration sites for wind and concentrating solar power projects in Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan and Turkey; and proposing financing schemes for high-priority renewable demonstration projects. To secure involvement of all actors, including industry, the project was implemented in close coordination with the Observatoire Méditerranéen de l'Énergie, which groups all major energy companies from the EU and southern Mediterranean.
Another initiative contributing to the innovation and research aspects for developing renewable energy research is the INCO-Net coordination platform, which has been supported by the EC since 2006. Within this framework, the project Mediterranean Innovation and Research Coordination (MIRA) program, covered under the Seventh Research Framework Program, contributes to develop the renewable energy field by facilitating dialogue, identifying common interests in research areas, setting up science and technology priorities and supporting capacity building activities in the region.
Bilateral Cooperation
Energy cooperation on renewable energies is also a strong element in the bilateral energy relations between the EU and the Mediterranean countries. Joint declarations on energy cooperation were signed between the EC and Morocco in July 2007 and between the EU and Jordan in October 2007. Moreover, a memorandum of understanding on energy was concluded with Egypt on Dec. 2, 2008.
These bilateral cooperation frameworks facilitate, for example, cooperation on development of renewable energy sources, the establishment of appropriate legislative and regulatory frameworks and the capacity-building in these EU partner countries. Furthermore, agreements including elements of energy cooperation are being negotiated with Algeria and Libya, which will provide an additional basis for stepping up collaboration on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
On a general level, the cooperation with these partner countries in the field of renewable energy builds on the bilateral contact already underway in the context of the European Neighborhood Policy. Enhanced cooperation on energy policies, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and savings and energy networks are a major element in the bilateral action plans for EU's partner countries in the region.
In addition, the European Community is contributing to investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the Mediterranean countries through the Neighborhood Investment Facility. Examples of concrete EU's support include a contribution of €10 million for the Gulf of El Zayt wind farm in Egypt in 2008 and the grant of €1 million provided in 2009 for a feasibility study for a concentrating solar power plant in Tunisia.
Activities in the GCC Region
Energy has always been a central issue in EU-GCC relations. Given the important potential of the GCC region for developing and utilizing renewable energy sources, the focus of the EU cooperation with GCC partners is increasingly targeting this cooperation. This development is fully reflected by the ongoing contacts, underpinned by the growing interest of the GCC countries to work more closely with the EU on clean energy technologies and electricity market integration.
Furthermore, several initiatives are already being developed by the EC in cooperation with the partners in the region to boost renewable energy development. This includes the EU-GCC Energy Expert Group, which started working at the beginning of 1990s and currently constitutes one of the longest-standing cooperation mechanisms between the EU and the GCC partners.
Exchanges within this group are being complemented by the activities of the EU-GCC Climate Change Expert Group, which has met on a regular basis since 2007. The group has become of the most dynamic elements in the EU-GCC cooperation, identifying concrete possibilities for strengthening cooperation in a number of areas - in particular, through exploration of joint research on climate change under existing research programs.
At the 19th EU-GCC Joint Cooperation Committee on March 18, 2009, EU and GCC partners agreed to extend energy cooperation and, more specifically, to establish an EU-GCC clean energy network, thus bringing together the relevant EU and GCC stakeholders.
The EC will support the establishment of a network of key actors from public and private sectors in the EU and the GCC, with a view to deepening cooperation on clean energy. This network will act as a facilitator and identify projects in fields of common interest, such as solar and other renewable energies.
Given the importance of research to the further development of renewable energy in the GCC region, the EC is also contributing to the establishment of a specific large-scale platform to foster international R&D cooperation with partners of the Gulf region. The objective of this platform is to provide regular opportunities for stakeholders from both the EU and the partner countries to identify initiatives and projects of common interest in the wider research area, and to eventually contribute towards the goals of increased utilization of "green" energy in the GCC countries.
Further Information
For more information, see:
- Commission goes step further in developing renewable energy with Mediterranean and Gulf countries (IP/09/1494)
- EC's web page on the EU-Mediterranean-Gulf Renewable Energy Conference
- EC's web page on EU external energy policy
- EC's web page on renewable energy
- EC's web page on EU's energy technology and innovation initiatives
Source: European Commission (EC).