The Sahara Wind Project presented at the Round Table Discussion on “100% Renewable Energy: Boosting development in Morocco” by the Climate Parliament, World Future Council and 100% Renewables, Nov. 22-23 2014 in Rabat, Morocco.

In a round table discussion hosted by the WFC and Climate Parliament in November 2014, 30 Moroccan policy makers identified key challenges for the country’s renewable energy industry. The main ones are Economic and financial barriers restricting the entry to capital markets, lack of accessible financial support for small scale projects that would facilitate private consumers to install RE technologies, market failures and imperfections, where fossil fuels are still heavily subsidized (equivalent to 5.1 per cent of GDP in 2011). Political, institutional/ governance and regulatory barriers, were also listed including a lack of stable and coherent regulations, a lack of cooperation across governance levels and institutions, as well as a strong lobby in favor of existing fossil fuel-based energy monopolies.

The “100% Renewable Energy: boosting Development in Morocco” report provides an analysis on the current situation of the energy sector of Morocco and derives policy recommendations for a just transition towards a 100% Renewable Energy.

On November 19-21  2014, Sahara Wind attended the 5th Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Global Entrepreneurship Summit was launched by United States President Barack Obama in 2009 as a global platform “to empower entrepreneurs with skills and resources necessary to compete and thrive in the 21st century”. Held under the theme “Harnessing the power of technology for Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, the 5th edition of GES took place in Marrakech, Morocco from 19-21 November 2014. This event provided an opportunity to celebrate entrepreneurs from around the world and a platform for the exchange of innovative ideas. Central to support entrepreneurs in their ability to unlock the economic potential of entire nations and lift people out of poverty, Morocco as host country, took this opportunity to make the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2014 a call for action for global investors to finance new businesses and projects.

Sahara Wind contributes to Forum MEDAYS in Tangier, November 12-15 2014.

During the event, Khalid Benhamou, Managing Director of Sahara Wind chaired two Forum sessions; namely the ‘Global Economy Outlook: Looking at The Emerging Markets’ and "Climate Changes: Towards a New Global Framework?" at the Forum MEDAYS in Tangier, Morocco.

  

Sahara Wind at the Ministerial Conference Italy-Africa: Working Together for a Sustainable Energy Future on October 13-14th 2014

On the occasion of the Italian Presidency of the EU, together with the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) and in cooperation with the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a Dialogue session of the private sector working in off-grid renewable energy. The forum brought together major European and African private sector practitioners to discuss pertinent issues with regard to investing in Africa's renewable energy market. This event premiered the Africa Energy Outlook of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a technical workshop on "How to deal with risks in the African energy sector". The conference saw the participation of main international energy institutions like IEA, IRENA, UN agencies, and global initiatives such as the UN Sustainable Energy for All.

The conference was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Piazzale della Farnesina 1, Rome, Italy. 

Sahara Wind at the European Commission's Workshop on Empowering Rural Electrification of September 29-30th 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. 

As a leader in the global drive to provide access to modern sustainable energy services the European Commission is launching a profound examination of new financial opportunities to support Rural Electrification. In a two day Workshop hosted by the EC in Brussels on 29-30 September, 2014, a variety of stakeholders had the opportunity to discuss new possibilities for providing financial support to Rural Electrification projects through a joint effort by the private sector and civil society organisations. They also shared experiences and to identify common practices. One of the objectives was to identify successful business models for an accelerated roll-outof energy access in rural communities.

The conference was organized by the Directorate General for Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid

The Sahara Wind Project's resource-backed inclusive access to the Atlantic Trade Winds presented at the International Energy Agency in Paris on July 02, 2014.

The presentation covered regional capacity building activities, wind measurements, green campuses, Africa’s first wind hydrogen systems and industrial synergies enhancing resource efficiencies. The project phasing and its HVDC transmission architecture was presented as well. As Morocco holds 71% of the world's phosphate reserves -a key ingredient in the fertilizer industries- the presentation focused on the initial phases of the Sahara Wind project and the decoupling of these industries from fossil fuels through the development of sustainable hydrogen production technologies. Energy transition prospects through the access of the significant trade wind resource on a regional basis were elaborated with subsequent positive effects on regional electricity markets.

Sahara Wind at the coordination center of the European CORESO electricity network, June 23, 2014

Sahara Wind took part in the 'Best Practices in European Smart Grids' Workshop. At the end of this Workshop, Khalid Benhamou of Sahara Wind visits the CORESO coordination center of the European electricity network in Brussels, Belgium

Sahara Wind at the “Overhauling Transatlantic Security Thinking” SDA conference on June 4th, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium.

The event took place in the backdrop of tensions with Russia and democratization process in North Africa with renewed conflict in Africa. During this conference, Khalid Benhamou, Managing Director of Sahara Wind reminded the audience of the importance of tackling climate refugee flows by addressing their root cause and building upstream sustainable development strategies.

At the invitation of the Greek Presidency of the European Union and in response to the common ambition of Morocco and the EU to further deepen their privileged partnership, the Sahara Wind Project is presented at the Conference on "Research and Innovation at the Service of Economy and Society in the European Neighborhood”in Thessaloniki on May 29-30, 2014.

With H.E. Abdelilah Benkirane Head of the Governement of Morocco at the  Seminar on Scientific Research and Innovation at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco April 29th 2014.

Sahara Wind a pris part aux travaux de la Global Growth Conference à Rabat, le 24 avril 2014. A ce titre, la session ‘Stratégies énergétiques en Afrique : Créer la croissance tout en assurant l'efficacité et l'accessibilité énergétique' a été modérée par son Directeur Général, Khalid Benhamou.

13th World Wind Energy Conference & Renewable Energy Exhibition (WWEC 2014)

13th World Wind Energy Conference & Renewable Energy Exhibition (WWEC 2014) was held in Shanghai, China from 7-9 April 2014. In the past 10 years, the Chinese wind power industry has achieved a record development in wind turbine installations. Deploying close to 50% of the world’s wind turbines in its domestic market during the last 4 consecutive years, China boosted its wind manufacturing base significantly. While R&D capabilities made significant progress, the Chinese wind power industry has accumulated a rich experience in wind farm construction, operations and various other aspects. Heading towards 100 GW of installed wind power capacity (one-third of the World’s total), China is currently building six Mega-Wind projects beyond the 10 GW range.

During Session 2A1 dedicated to ‘Regional and national strategies for system optimization’ Sahara Wind presented its Project under the title ‘Scaling-up the Wind Industry: Building Integrated Wind-Energy Driven Economies’ on April 8th 2014.