Jeremy Leggett, international solar thought leader and author, will speak at the second edition of the solar energy conference “Desert Solar in Saudi Arabia”, 17-18 September, held in Riyadh.
The conference will discuss opportunities for solar energy in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region.
Jeremy is known for his visionary thoughts on the opportunities of solar in USA.He is described as UK’s most respected green energy boss by Observer.
He will deliberate on why solar is now interesting for the energy-advantaged countries in the MENA region, elaborating on how Saudi Arabia can become a solar energy leader in the region and power the growth of the economy.
Coal plants will become terminated and power companies in the western world will have to change their business model. Solar energy deployment is going to change the face of the energy industry by 2020, concludes UBS bank in their solar report.
Large-scale power stations will get eliminated within 10-20 years, with solar technology taking their place as main power source, says the report.
Thierry Lepercq, president of Solairedirect that develop PV power plants with low levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is also of the same opinion. He will be the second speaker at the conference.
By 2020, solar energy will become available at US$0,05-US$0,07/kWh and by then solar PV power would be by far the cheapest energy in the world, according to Lepercq.
Saudi Arabia has set a target of solar capacity installation of up to 41 GW by 2032.
The International Energy Agency has forecasted that new solar installations until 2035 will represent investments of more than $1 trillion.
Integrating with short-and long-term storage, renewable energy has the potential to replace power plants without any failure or malfunctions, commented, Michael Sterner, the international authority in the field of energy storage.
The keynote speakers will discuss the opportunities like growth of solar energy market in Saudi Arabia with a 90+ Billion dollar global business. As with oil, there are best resources to explore the industrial and business opportunities for the country.
With the cost of solar systems dropping down, solar energy applications will become more competitive.
Jeremy Leggett is founder and non-executive chairman of London-based Solarcentury, an international solar energy firm. Leggett is a former member of the UK government’s renewables advisory board and was instrumental in campaigning for the UK incentive scheme.