United Nations' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recently said that ‘renewable energy has the ability to lift the poorest nations to new levels of prosperity'. Since time immemorial, wind, sun and water have been an infinite source of sustainable energy. In modern times, climate change concerns, coupled with high oil prices, and increasing government support, are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. Many large-scale renewable energy projects have been implemented especially as renewable technologies are suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development. Small solar PV systems can provide electricity to millions of households for lighting and/or cooking, and heating. In this connection, Al Gomhuria daily of Thursday, March 28, 2003, has reported that Engineer Hatem Saleh, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade, has met with a delegation representing EXA Solar GmbH, a German corporation providing capital equipment and turnkey production lines to manufacture photovoltaic modules. It was during President Mohamed Morsi's recent visit to Germany in January 2013, that EXA Solar has shown interest in assisting Egypt in its endeavours to diversify sources of energy, and particularly expanding utilization of solar power. Al-Gomhuria said that EXA Solar, which is a full-service engineering, procurement and construction integration services provider of large-scale solar sytems to customers around the world, would contribute to the establishment of an integrated industrial plant for the production of solar power units with investments reaching $3.6 billion. The project, to be located on a 3-million square meter plot at the Technology Valley in Ismailia, would create 6,000 job opportunities, the paper added. This is yet another example of commendable cooperation between countries for the welfare of peoples on one hand, and for long-term energy security, on the other. As Germany has set a world record for solar power production, it is natural that a German company like EXA Solar should make such a mutually beneficial offer. For Germany is the world's top photovoltaics (PV) installer, with a solar PV capacity as of December 2012 of more than 32.3 gigawatts (GW). The German new solar PV installations increased by about 7.6 GW in 2012, and solar PV provided 18 TWh (billion kilowatt-hours) of electricity in 2011, about 3% of total electricity. Some market analysts expect this could reach 25 percent by 2050. Germany has a goal of producing 35% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and 100% by 2050. It should be noted that renewable energy is now being sought even by oil-producing countries. For instance, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates) has taken a major step towards preserving its long-term energy security by launching Shams I solar power plant which would supply 100 megawatts enough to supply 20,000 homes. The project represents the first step in the Emirate's plan to generate at least seven percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.
