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The EU’s Mediterranean Solar Plan aims to reach 20GW of new renewable energy production and achieve significant energy savings around the Mediterranean by 2020, EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner has told the Third European Renewable Energy Policy Conference in Brussels.

 

“Renewable energy and in particular solar energy, offers a real ‘win-win-win’ for the EU and the Mediterranean in terms of energy security, economic and social development, and the welfare of our planet,” she said in her speech, adding: “The development of an integrated and interconnected Green Energy Market with the Mediterranean will provide cleaner energy resources, help address the rapidly growing energy demand across the entire Mediterranean region and improve local access to energy services where needed… The implementation of the Mediterranean Solar Plan will be an important part of this project.”

 

The Commissioner pointed out that the EU and the Mediterranean had one of the world's biggest potential markets for renewable energy. “Our co-operation makes sense on a number of levels – the EU has significant experience and know-how in renewable energies, whilst the potential for renewable energies in the Mediterranean is enormous.” The Commission, she went on, was already assisting the EU’s partners in North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf, through a number of bilateral and regional initiatives, to boost their renewable energy potential and in particular solar.

 

She said the Mediterranean Solar Plan would also develop electricity grid interconnections and foster the transfer of know-how and technology, adding the EU renewable energy directive would offer key incentives for facilitating the implementation of the Mediterranean Solar Plan by providing for the import of ‘green electricity’ from third countries to the EU.

 

The EU funds a number of regional Mediterranean energy projects under the ENPI, such as the Euro-Mediterranean energy market integration project (Med-Emip), the integration of electricity markets in the Maghreb project, the project on energy efficiency cooperation (MedEnec), and the cooperation project of Euro-Mediterranean energy regulators (MedReg).

 

Benita Ferrero-Waldner speech: Energizing the Euro-Mediterranean region: the Mediterranean Solar Plan

 

Background note: Renewable energy cooperation with the Mediterranean and GCC regions - What is the Commission doing?

 

EU-Mediterranean-Gulf Renewable Energy Conference (09/10/09)