Sustainable energy strides stressed

Vienna, May 14 (BNA): Electricity and Water Affairs Minister, Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza participated in the opening session of the Vienna Forum on Sustainable Energy at the Vienna International Conference Centre. Several ministers, heads of organizations and senior officials involved in renewable energy from all over the world, were present. The minister said that his participation was in preparation for the submission of Bahrain’s national voluntary audit report at the high-level political forum to be held in New York in July. He highlighted Bahrain’s achievements in the renewable energy field and the progress made towards the achievement of the United Nations sustainable development goals, in particular that of clean and sustainable energy and the steps being taken by the government to encourage investment in the area. He said Bahrain had a great interest in clean energy and due to the keenness of His Majesty the King, His Royal Highness the Prime Minister and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister. He said Bahrain has set up the Sustainable Energy Unit in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme. It is concerned with encouraging investment in renewable energy such as solar energy since the government has set national targets of five per cent of energy use being renewable by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2035. He underlined the adoption of the national plan for energy efficiency (NEEAP) and the national plan for renewable energy (NREAP) and the formation of a committee headed by the Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs to implement the plans. “The government has started implementing a project of setting up a 100mw solar power plant in partnership with the private sector”, he said, stressing keenness on investing in renewable and sustainable energy that is now a priority. He stressed the implementation of the net metering system that allows individuals and institutions to install solar energy devices at their homes and facilities. A number of residential houses powered by solar power had already been set up in the country at a cost of a maximum of BD3,500 per house. He said Bahrain had also launched the first Wind Atlas, a digital map that determines the proportions of the presence of wind presence in various regions of Bahrain to encourage investors to invest in wind power generation projects. He said the Electricity and Water Authority is operating the first wind turbine to generate clean and renewable wind energy in southern Bahrain.