Sahara Wind moderates the Moroccan accession to ECOWAS conference of May 15th 2018 in Accra, Ghana.
Morocco’s accession to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a full member has been agreed in principle by the community’s Heads of State in June 2017; however, the absence of a debate has been noticed in Morocco as well as in the ECOWAS states. In order to reinforce trust between governments and people, a conference under the theme: “Morocco’s accession to ECOWAS: Towards a strengthening of the West African community” was held at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. Organized by the Amadeus Institute in partnership with the General Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Morocco (CGEM) and the Ghanaian Think Tank IMANI Africa, participants shared their respective sectors interests on how Morocco’s accession process can be implemented without disrupting the West African integrationist synergy. Held under “Chatham House Rule” Moroccan, Ghanaian and West African delegations debated and explored ways to reinforce this exemplary regional community with the best “win-win” approach.
"Aggregating North Africa’s inclusive, regional energy transition: the Sahara Wind project" presented at the North Africa Renewable Energy Summit 2018.
The North Africa Renewable Energy Summit 2018 brought together regional stakeholders to assess current frameworks in the transition to a more efficient, cost-effective low-carbon economy. North African delegates presented their respective Solar and Wind potentials along with their operational capacites. Current renewable energy targets with best practices were assessed in order to implement an effective roll-out strategy. The latter will be essential to meet the region’s growing energy demand.
Sahara Winds inclusive, proprietary project concept presented at the 4th International Conference on Energy, Materials, Applied Energetics and Pollution April 29-30, 2018 in Constantine, Algeria
The Sahara Wind project’s capacity building activities provides a business case affecting regional power, phosphate and iron-ore industries. As backbones of Morocco and Mauritania’s respective economies, tapping on the Atlantic trade winds to upgrade the region’s phosphates to fertilizer and iron-ore exports represents major environmental objectives. De-carbonizing the world’s most polluting (fertilizer and steel) industries while feeding regional electricity markets at record-low costs through Sahara Wind’s HVDC line ushers Africa in an era of sustainability. Presented at the University Mentouri of Constantine ICEMAEP'2018 on April 29th 2018, the Sahara Wind project’s inclusive regional approach is likely to leverage Algeria’s significant resources.
Sahara Wind at Berlin's Energy Transition Dialogue 2018, April 17-18
To discuss viable concepts for the ongoing transformation of the energy sector Foreign and Energy Ministers met at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue. Held at the German foreign ministry in Berlin, the event gathered some 2,000 participants ranging from CEOs, Managing Directors, Presidents and Managers to Department Heads from more than 90 countries. #BETD2018 provided a platform for an international public to assess national governments and energy sector stakeholders efforts to meet ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.
The China-Africa Summit's "Economic Cooperation and Investments" preparatory conference panel moderated by Sahara Wind
To strengthen the ongoing collective Sino-African dialogue ahead of the 6th China-Africa Summit to be held in Beijing on September 2018, an experts conference was organized at the Sofitel Rose Garden Hotel in Rabat. Over one hundred invited politicians, economic operators, diplomats, experts and academics from Africa and China gathered in closed hearings round tables format of the Forum on Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC). In addition to 'Economic Cooperation and Investment' moderated by Sahara Wind, the conference focused on political mechanisms, human development and skills transfer mechanisms as well as peace and security.
Technology, Innovation and Solutions linked to the Sahara Wind project presented at the Africa Climate Resilient Infrastructure Summit (ACRIS III) in Marrakech on February 27-28, 2018.
Showcasing innovations likely to shape North Africa’s global industries, Sahara Wind demonstrated key sustainability trends affecting energy infrastructures when backed by efficient industrial processes. Relying on Atlantic trade wind-induced currents which deposited over 71% of World phosphate deposits, these enable key industries such as fertilizers to de-carbonize, leading to the emergence of a renewable hydrogen economy. Relying on the region’s iron-ore deposits that can also be carbon-free, direct-reduced into Steels the Sahara Wind project HVDC line provides a business case ushering a sustainability era beyond Africa’s borders.
“Sahara Wind Project: A Regional Catalyst for Renewables” presented at the International Workshop on the "Implementation of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Maghreb" on 18-20 December 2017 in Rabat, Morocco.
Organized by the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC), the Université Internationale de Rabat and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, this workshop highlighted the Maghreb countries’ differentiated strategies aimed at securing a sustainable access to water and energy to try and preserve their food security-related agriculture. In today’s global climate transition, the Sahara Wind project’s energy, water and food ramifications encompassing phosphate footprints into fertilizer industries were evaluated.
Sahara Wind Chairs the Sixth Annual EnergyTalk in London, November 21st 2017.
On behalf of the World Wind Energy Association Khalid Benhamou CEO of Sahara Wind, Chairs the Sixth EnergyTalk. It is a Global Wind Power, Technology Innovation annual meeting which brings together some of the most influential senior executives across the world’s Wind Energy community. The Talk looked at how companies and leaders are driving change within the industry to achieve technology innovation and development through a series of key notes, workshops, discussions and debates. The discussions covered a range of technical issues relevant to wind farm construction, commissioning, operation, real-time monitoring, grid integration, flexibility, storage & innovation.
Sahara Wind at MEDays, November 8-11 2017.
Sahara Wind contributed to the 10th edition of the MEDays forum on November 8-11 2017. The panels " BRICs-Africa: From Growth to Co-Emergence", " Think Tanks & Soft Power in Middle East and Africa: The New Tools of the Global Battle of influence" and " Cyber War and E-security: New Threats, New Geopolitics?" have been moderated by Khalid Benhamou, CEO of Sahara Wind. Organized in Tangier on the theme "From defiance to challenges: the era of major upheavals" MEDays gathered a community of 150 high-level speakers with 3000 participants.
Sahara Wind at the Africa Panel of the ‘Community Wind Symposium’ and the Crossroads conference held prior to COP23 in Bonn, Germany
Organized by the World Wind Energy Association WWEA on November 3 2017, the ‘Community Wind Symposium’ assessed global energy transition issues. During a panel discussion, Khalid Benhamou CEO of Sahara Wind, presented its impact on the African continent. Economic, social and political implications in ensuring a sustainable access of wind resources for an integrated development in the continent were discussed. Anticipating on the COP23 global climate deadline, these topics were further debated at the Crossroad Bonn conference.
Sahara Wind at ‘Climate Chance 2017’, the Climate Actors World Summit in Agadir, Morocco September 11-13, 2017
The growing mobilization of non-state actors, particularly since COP22 in Marrakech, shows that the reinforcement and progress of concrete actions taking place in territories are indeed essential to meet the objectives of the fight against climate change. In partnership with the Souss-Massa Region, this summit was the biggest event for non-state actors (local authorities, companies, NGOS, etc.) before COP23. The Climate Chance Summit was organized around a variety of events and plenaries to discuss major issues. It brought together key personalities from the international climate action sphere, high-level dialogues with climate champions and focus sessions to present significant initiatives. Forums and workshops highlighted the mobilization and acceleration of climate action.
Decarbonizing the world’s largest fertilizer industries presented at ICOME’17 on July 09th 2017 in Tianjin, China
The trade wind-induced origins of the world’s largest phosphate-rock deposits together with Sahara Wind's integrated wind-electricity pathways for decarbonizing the world’s largest fertilizer industries presented at ICOME17. China and Morocco are leading fertilizer producers capable of eliminating carbon pathways in their fertilizer industries thanks to phosphate reserves and tremendous wind potentials. The International Conference on Material and Energy ICOME held from July 06-09 2017 in Tianjin, China provided a platform to demonstrate energy transition opportunities likely to shape low-carbon energy projects.