Barcelona, 28 June 2016 – The final conference of the European project Foster in Med (Fostering Solar Technology in the Mediterranean Area) has taken place today in Cagliari, Italy, to present the successful results of the project in the promotion of solar innovative technologies in the Mediterranean region. During the event, attended by the promoters of the project, among them, the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME), SMEs and local and regional authorities, the main resultant initiatives of the project have been presented, such as the creation of solar pioneering plants that has involved to more than 50 companies in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, with investments up to 1M €.
The commitment of companies, SMEs and startups with the sustainable growth of the Mediterranean and the regional transition towards a greener economy, which approaches key sectors such as the solar one, is increasingly evident. During the last years, ASCAME and its wide network of chambers of commerce in the Mediterranean have been involved in cross-border cooperation projects that are channelling the region towards an energy diversification, understood as a great business opportunity for the regional private sector represented by ASCAME. Nevertheless, obstacles like deficient infrastructures in the countries of the region need to be urgently addressed so as not to obstruct the already successful experiences of the industry.
Results of the project
In this sense, across the project Foster in Med financed by the European program ENPI CBC Med, the ASCAME Commission of Environment and Climate Change and the Tunisia Chamber of Commerce, among others, have managed to implement a total of five solar photovoltaic plants with 85 MW of power in Aqaba’s Balqa College (Jordan), Hadat’s University Campus (Beirut), the Agency for the industry of construction of housings in Cagliari (Italy), the Chamber of Trade of Alexandria (Egypt) and the National Center of Engineers’ Formation (CENAFFIF) of Tunisia. These plants consist of a photovoltaic system integrated into the building, which includes solar modules as architectural elements in the roof, coating front, etc. This energy is directly generated in its place of use. As the Tunisian Minister of Employment, Zied Lâadhari, declared during the inauguration of the solar plant in the CENAFFIF, ” the photovoltaic technology is a new technology used by the first time in Tunis, which will allow to reduce costs of energy consumption of families and the industry, while it promises new perspectives of commercialization in the country and jobs creation”.
Besides the installation of solar plants, it is required to highlight the trainings carried out by the ASCAME network on green economy and solar sector in order so they could be taken to the practice. A total of 180 designers, 120 installers of SMEs and 150 university students have benefited from these training programs in the framework of Foster in Med.
Aligning with SDGs
In order to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the region must change its linear economic model and bet for a transition to innovate and sustainable models of growth. The so-called clean energies represent today a great potential for jobs creation, technological advances and competitiveness of both shores of the Mediterranean. Foster in Med is only one successful example of how sustainability and renewable energies are today an opportunity for business in the region. The solar power in a region with the highest solar radiation indexes in the world, the Mediterranean, has already positioned it as a world reference for the industry with initiatives such as Foster in Med.