Many have been wondering what the effects of the Arab Spring in North Africa on renewables would be. There were plans in place to considerably boost renewables in North African countries, and then import renewable electricity to energy-hungry Europe, but the fact that the North African countries were autocratic regimes had many wondering if Europeans would merely be following up their support for autocratic regimes via oil imports from autocratic regimes by supporting autocratic regimes via renewable electricity imports. The levels of corruption and cronyism inherent to the autocratic regimes also made doing business in the North African countries difficult and unsavoury for renewable energy companies.
Now that both Tunisia and Egypt are further down the road in their transition to democratic systems, and Morocco is moving ahead with internal reforms, a clearer picture is emerging as to how this will affect the growth of renewables in the North African region.
In Tunisia, where the seeds of the Arab Spring first sprouted, the first HVDC(High Voltage Direct Current) to Italy has been greenlighted:
Solar energy developer, Nur Energie, has been working on developing a utility-scale solar power plant in the North African country of Tunisia for a couple of years and now, according to the company, it has reached a milestone that brings its plans to export solar energy from Tunisia closer to reality.
Nur Energie says that it has worked out technical details with Italian high-voltage transmission network operator, Terna, to lay a transmission line between Tunisia and Italy to accommodate an estimated 2000 megawatts of clean energy generated electricity.
http://www.earthtechling.com/...
In addition to increased construction of wind power farms, the Tunisian transitional government also has committed $ 2 billion to solar power projects:
Tunisia plans to invest $2 billion in solar projects to generate power for Europe, the minister of planning and international cooperation said.
Tunisia is building 40 solar projects with foreign partners from Germany and other countries, and they will start providing electricity to Europe by 2016, Tunisia’s Abdelhamid Triki said in an interview in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The power will be transferred by a submarine cable to Europe through Italy, he said. Triki didn’t say how much electricity will be generated in the project.
http://www.bloomberg.com/...
Morocco, which has been something of a North African trailblazer in regards to renewables, especially with wind power, and seems to be reforming and modernizing internally, has been making ambitious moves to forge ahead with solar power:
Now Europe—long dependent on Middle Eastern oil and Russian natural gas—has begun to look toward the heat of the Sahara for some of its long-term energy needs. By 2050, roughly 15 percent of European energy could be generated by wind and solar-thermal power in North Africa and parts of the Middle East, according to Dii, widely known as Desertec, a group of mostly European companies such as Siemens that are developing clean-energy technology in the region. Although the effort—projected to cost $510 billion—is still in its infancy, analysts say Morocco has far more aggressive investment plans than its regional rivals and is well positioned to become North Africa’s leading provider of renewable energy, especially solar-thermal.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...
Morocco is planning to get an impressive 40% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, and will likely be an inspiration to the newly democratic Tunisia and Egypt.
Speaking of Egypt, they are gunning for 20% renewables by 2020:
According to Ahmed Kamal, director of the Environmental Commitment and Sustainable Development Office (ECSDO), renewable energy should constitute 20 per cent of the country's total production of energy by 2020. The ECSDO, he added, offers technical assistance for companies involved in renewable energy technology and is encouraging Egyptian industries to switch to renewable energy. The ECSDO has signed a partnership agreement with the Egyptian-German Programme, the German University, the American University in Cairo, and the Alexandria University, along with 13 Egyptian companies involved in solar energy to boost the production of alternative energy in the country.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/...
In general, it seems that the developments of the Arab Spring have not impeded the progress of renewables in North Africa, but instead are set to lead to an accleration of renewable energy production there. In the ideal scenario this will also lead to much-needed job growth in the region, to greater European economic cooperation with North Africa, to greater economic cooperation of Mediterranean countries on renewables, and, eventually, to mediterranean North African countries becoming 100% renewable, and also renewable energy technology leaders, while having plenty of energy left over to export to Europe.
Overall, it looks like the North African Arab Spring Revolutions will accelerate a North African renewable energy revolution, which will be a big win for the newly democratic North African nations and a big win for planet Earth.