Unlike photovoltaic solar technology or the solar panels often seen on roof tops, at Shams 1, electricity is generated from the heat of the sun rather than from sunlight. Yousif Al Ali, general manager at Shams Power Company explains that Shams 1 is the only solar power plant in the world that uses booster heaters to increase the temperature, thus increasing the amount of power generated.

 

　　"Shams Power plant will produce around 100 mega watts and based on the average power consumption in the country, that 100 mega watts will be enough to power around twenty thousand houses in the area. This project will also help us to avoid producing emissions of carbon dioxide. This project is registered with the United Nations as an emission reduction project under the CDM Mechanism and it will reduce emissions by about 175-thousand tons of CO2 per year and this amount of CO2 reduction is equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees or removing around 15-thousand cars from our streets."

 

　　Despite Abu Dhabi's oil wealth, Yousif Al Ali says the Emirate is committed to finding other sources of energy including solar and nuclear.

 

　　"The demand for power is going to double during the next decade in Abu Dhabi. To cater for all this need we need to have alternative sources of fuel. That's why Abu Dhabi is now working on diversifying its sources of power."

 

　　Vahid Fotuhi, president of the Emirates Solar Industry Association, says Shams 1 is an excellent example in the region, but still faces many obstacles.

 

　　"Shams 1 is great because it's the largest of its kind in the region and one of the largest in the world. It has the unique feature of being able to generate clean energy through gas boosters - even when the sun has set. The flip side is that it needs more unique conditions in order to operate well, in that it needs clear blue skies with no sand and no haze which as those of us who live in this region know that it's not always the case. And the other issue is that the cost of this is typically higher than it is for other technologies such as PV (photovoltaic)."

 

　　Vahid Fotuhi explains that the plummeting cost of solar power was leading to increased demands in the Middle East. Five years ago, one megawatt of power produced by photovoltaic solar technology was five US dollars; today it is less than two US dollars.

 

　　"As supply continues to dwindle and as the prices of oil and gas skyrocket, we see that there has been renewed interest in solar and at the same time the price of solar has gone the other way. In the last five years alone, the price of photovoltaic panels has dropped by 80 per cent, so this has opened up new markets and new applications for solar."

 

　　Abu Dhabi is set to open the equivalent of two solar power plants the size of Shams 1 each year if it is to meet its targets by 2020. Dubai is also looking to go solar - but with more modest ambitions of achieving five per cent renewable energy production by 2030.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.