The solar power station in Aden...an important step on the path to salvation from the diesel disaster
English - Monday 02 October 2023 الساعة 03:35 pm
Newsyemen, Ammar Ali Ahmed:
With the start of the installation of panels at the solar energy station in the capital, Aden, provided by the UAE; The strategic importance of the project is highlighted in light of the continuing electricity crisis in the city year after year.
The crisis is still ongoing despite the approaching end of the summer due to the continued large deficit between generation and demand. According to the latest statement by the spokesman for the Electricity Corporation in Aden, last Thursday, the city’s peak loads reached 680 megawatts, while the highest generation currently available is a maximum of 280 megawatts.
The matter does not stop at the fact that the generation is less than half the need; Rather, it is in the high cost of this generation using the most expensive diesel fuel, which constitutes more than 60% of the current generation, which makes the city’s electricity fuel bill amount to about 55 million dollars per month. As the government says.
Here the importance of the solar power station project that the UAE is currently building in the Bir Ahmed area, north of Aden, with a power of 120 megawatts, emerges. The company implementing the project says that work on the station will be completed completely by the end of this year.
Which means that the capital, Aden, will benefit next summer from clean, almost free energy amounting to 120 megawatts, as producing one kilowatt with solar energy does not cost more than 20 riyals, which is the cost of maintenance and operation only, according to international reports, compared to about 350 riyals for the cost of producing one kilowatt with diesel fuel, according to the government’s recognition. ; This reveals the huge amounts of money that the station will save compared to the cost of generating this number with diesel fuel.
According to the figures provided by the government, the production of 120 megawatts with diesel fuel for 10 hours a day, which is the approximate period during which the solar station will operate, amounts to about 100 million dollars per year. While the cost of operation and maintenance that the solar power plant will need per year is less than 10% of the previous figure.
A comparison shows the extent of the importance represented by the solar energy station provided to the city of Aden by the UAE, and this is compounded by the fact that it is a strategic station with its accessories of drainage and transmission that make it expandable to about 600 megawatts, which makes its expansion a strategic and vital project for the city of Aden.
According to specialists in the field of solar energy, the cost of adding one megawatt amounts to about half a million US dollars, which means that the cost of expanding the station to its maximum capacity of 600 megawatts could reach about 250 million dollars, despite the fact that this cost is large compared to Despite the crisis that the government is currently going through, it is an insignificant number compared to the size of what the project will save if completed.
Generating 600 megawatts with solar energy means saving more than $550 million annually if this number is generated with diesel fuel for 10 hours a day, based on what the government says, which means that the volume of what the station will provide at its maximum capacity is less than half the amount it costs to generate its production with diesel fuel for a year. Just one, while the life span of solar power plants can reach 25 years, experts say.
