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wiredInUSA - July 2015
wiredInUSA - July 2015
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ASIA / AFRICA NEWS
INDEXA new report from the international
renewable energy agency (IRENA)
providesclear directiononhowtoadvance
storage systems as part of the infrastructure
for a sustainable energy future.
“Renewables and electricity storage”
prioritizes 14 action items across five
priority areas where governments and
industry can work together to facilitate
the development of policies on electricity
storage for renewables.
To avoid the worst effects of climate
change and accelerate sustainable
energy transformation and economic
growth, IRENA’s REmap 2030 report finds
the share of renewables in the electricity
sector must double to 45 percent by 2030.
To do so, an estimated 150GW of battery
storage and 325GW of pumped-storage
hydroelectricity will be needed, making
storage a vital element in the expansion of
renewable energy.
Storage for
sustainability
Etihad Etisalat “Mobily” has announced
the commercial launch of a regional high
capacity cable to connect the Middle East
with Europe. The first phase will stretch from
Al Fujairah city in the UAE and pass through
Riyadh and Amman.
The agreement involves several telecom
companies, including Etihad Etisalat
“Mobily”, UAE Etisalat Group, Zain Jordan
Turkcell Super Online, Orange Jordan, and
Syria Telecommunication.
The 5,000km cable will provide data
capacities of up to 1.2TB per second,
and from 10GB duplicates as per Ethernet
protocol. The cable will be extended to
Turkey as soon as the political and social
situation in Syria allows it.
The project guarantees to reach all sites
along the track of the cable, even in case
of network failure. Other developmental
alternatives are available to extend the
FTTH cable from Turkey to Europe through
different terminals already prepared and
equipped on the Greek-Bulgarian borders
with Turkey.
Regional cable gets
going
Only around 18 percent of Kenyan
households have access to electricity,
with close to 87 percent of rural
households and 55 percent of urban
poor households using kerosene lamps
for lighting. At present, the country’s
grid-connected electricity capacity is
1,429MW, with the demand for electricity
projected to grow to around 15,000MW
by 2030.
In 2012, in response to this projection,
the government in partnership with the
World Bank Group commissioned the
construction of the Lake Turkana wind
power project (LTWP) the largest wind
farm in sub-Saharan Africa. The project is
estimated to cost €582m and to provide
300MW of low-cost power to the national
grid.
The wind farm will occupy 40,000 acres
of land in Loiyangalani district in north
eastern Kenya, ranging from 450m
above sea level at the shores of Lake
Turkana to 2,300m above sea level at
the top of Mount Kulal. As a result of the
daily temperature fluctuations, strong
and predictable winds between the lake
and the desert are experienced, with
expected average speeds of 11m per
second.
Affordable power
to the people
The Bulgarian news agency Novinite is
reporting that Japanese cable producer
Yazaki has plans for a new production
facility in Bulgaria.
Sinan Kar, the general manager of Yazaki’s
subsidiary in the Bulgarian market, said that
the company’s third factory in Bulgaria will
be located in the country’s central plant.
The investment is estimated to be worth
€30m.
To date, Yazaki has invested around €60m
in the Bulgarian car parts industry, making
a range of automotive components that
includes cables and wire harnesses. The
company’s existing production facilities in
Bulgaria are based in Yambol and Sliven,
supplying Ford and Renault respectively.
Sinan Kar said that the company is
considering several options for the
location of its new facility in Bulgaria, but
the designed plant will not be located in
proximity of either Sliven or Yambol.
Harness expansion
in Bulgaria