In Arnhem, on May 9th, Hans Rijntalder, chairman of Pondera and H.E. Saeed Sultan Al Suwaidi, chairman of SEWA (Sharjah Electricity, Water & Gas Authority) signed an MOU for a long-term cooperation for the development of wind- and solar parks in Sharjah. SEWA is the state-owned company of the emirate of Sharjah.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is unique because of the limited number of developments for wind and solar parks in this region. However, the emirate has great ambitions to develop its own sustainable energy generation and the first steps will be taken with this partnership. There are also plans to combine wind and solar energy with agriculture in the desert.
SEWA will be responsible for providing support in obtaining permits, grid connections and integration to connect wind and solar farms. Pondera Development, as co-developer, will concentrate on the technical, environmental and ecological aspects. Together they plan to realise the following projects:
- A one-year high-tech meteorological measurement campaign to determine the feasibility of installing wind turbines.
- Setting up and supporting a pilot project where research will take place for combining solar energy and greenhouse horticulture.
- Realising a pilot project of a test case in desert conditions with the subsequent realisation of a 120 MW wind farm.
- The development and realisation of a wind farm & agro energy of 2GW. This is a combination of using wind energy and solar energy for, among other things, greenhouse horticulture.
H.E. Saeed Sultan Al Suwaidi, Chairman SEWA: “For us, the projects we are going to work on with Pondera are very important, because they provide a good basis for the sustainable ambitions our country has. It is easy to fill the desert with solar panels, but with our approach we get much more added value out of it. For example, we combine it with agriculture and nature development. The help of specialists from the Netherlands is very welcome.”
Hans Rijntalder, Chairman Pondera: “The signing of the MOU is a great start to exploiting the enormous amounts of renewable energy sources in the area in the future. How wonderful it would be if Sharjah is self-sufficient in sustainable resources in the future. In the coming period, we will collaborate with SEWA to research the potential practical applications and actively developing these projects.
