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Nouakchott:
Masdar, the clean energy company and creator of the eponymous
“green city” on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, launched Thursday a
$32 million solar plant in Mauritania.
The Sheikh Zayed Solar Power Plant,
located in the capital, Nouakchott, will generate 15 megawatts of
solar photovoltaic (PV) power and, according to Masdar, is now the
largest PV plant in all of Africa.
It will, in fact, deliver 10% of the
country’s current electricity load.
Mauritania is a country that is one of the world’s highest carbon
emitters per capita.
Masdar kicked off the Mauritania
project as part of its commitment to the UN’s “Year of Sustainable
Energy for All.”
As announced last year by UN
Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, Sustainable Energy for All aimed to
expand modern energy sources to those who could least afford it;
double energy efficiency worldwide; and double the amount of clean
electricity and power within the globe’s total energy portfolio.
The results may not have been as
impressive as the goals, but arguably the UAE, Abu Dhabi and
Masdar kept their end of the deal.
Mauritania’s energy grid is currently marred by energy shortages
and both expensive and dirty diesel generators.
Masdar claims the new solar energy
plant, with its 30,000 solar panels in Nouakchott, will displace
over 21,000 tons of carbon emissions annually and will provide up
to 10 percent of the country’s total energy needs.
Should this new plant prove to be an
important anchor of Mauritania’s energy potential, more hope is on
the horizon.
Masdar claims the country’s wind
potential is four times than its current energy demands.
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