On Tuesday PV Insider held a webinar analysing the prospects for the photovoltaic market in the Middle East & North Africa.

In his webinar presentation ESIA President Vahid Fotuhi gave a macro-level overview of the MENA market and what he described as an "energy crisis" emerging in the region. In his view, the crisis has been created by rising populations, urbanisation and economic growth, which is exacerbated by social factors.

The "repercussion is that economic growth has outpaced… the GDP growth, and at the same time fuelled a rapid production of electricity in a way that is almost unsustainable," Fotuhi added.

At the same time, the price of PV panels has dropped by 75% since 2008, which Fotuhi emphasised that "no other commodity has had such a huge volatility – not even oil." In countries such as Morocco and Jordan, solar PV is now at grid parity, which increases its attractiveness.

Beyond the cost benefit of solar, it was shown in the webinar that PV can provide a valuable contribution to the GDP of a country, preserve oil, reduce imports and give jobs.

Vahid Fotuhi will be continuing this conversation in his presentation at the MENASOL conference, taking place 14-15 May in Dubai. The session on ‘The business case for PV in MENA' will open the PV technology track of the conference. To see full details of the conference, including full speaker line up and agenda, please visit www.pv-insider.com/menasol

Contact information:

Matt Carr
PV Insider
matt@pv-insider.com