CAIRO: Tunisia hosted an international conference on solar energy on Friday and Saturday aimed at increasing development and funding for renewable energy. The conference, which brought together Arab and European energy ministers and the heads of international funding agencies such as the World Bank, European Investment Bank, the French Agency for Development and the German Cooperation Agency, aimed at broadening efforts to bring solar energy to the world. The conference, under the title “Tunisia Solar International Conference” was seen as a positive step toward increasing understanding and funding options for the renewable energy, said World Bank officials. Leaders from Egypt, Jordan, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Spain and the United Arab Emirates were on hand to discuss regional efforts to increase solar power. One session was devoted to the presentation of projects and initiatives in renewable energy in an effort to show Tunisia's achievements in solar power. “We believe it was a successful step in bringing together potential partners on the path toward renewable energy,” Hamid Abdallah, a Jordanian government representative, told Bikya Masr. The World Bank, he said, was active in letting governments know “they are ready to be part of funding these renewable resource projects around the region in an effort to reduce reliance on oil in the region and in Europe.” But, Abdallah admitted there were difficulties in creating a unified voice on solar power. Many countries and funders believe it is too expensive at the current moment. “We have to change their attitudes because it will be too expensive when we start to lose all resources of energy across the world when oil prices become to expensive,” Abdallah added. For its part, Tunisia has already begun implementing an ambitious solar power project, which aims to generate 4,700 megawatts by 2030. Despite positive gains in alternative energy in North Africa in recent years, the World Bank continues to remain on the outside looking in, said Moroccan energy official Hussein Bouaddein. He argued that international organizations “must see the importance of our efforts to create these technologies before it is too late and costs for other sources soar out of control.” BM
