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SOLAR PROJECT IN THE ARMENIAN SUBURB OF BOURJ HAMMOUD PROMISES MORE ELECTRICITY FOR LEBANON
March 16, 2015
The beneficiaries of the energy produced will primarily be the people
of Bourj Hammoud, who will experience a sense that they own exceptional
clean energy produced by the river that passes through their area.
Bourj Hammoud is a suburb in North-East Beirut, Lebanon. The suburb is
heavily populated by Armenians. Bourj Hammoud is an industrious area
and is one of the most densely populated districts in the Middle East.
Bourj Hammoud was founded by survivors of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915.
Al Monitor (Beirut) - A field stretches by a river, but it does not
produce fruits and vegetables. It features, however, devices that
produce electricity from the sun. A blue expanse of solar panels
covers the Beirut River between the Armenia bridge and Yerevan bridge
in Bourj Hammoud. This solar field now has 1 megawatt of capacity,
and is estimated to guarantee 1.6 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) per
year, fulfilling the needs of around 1,000 homes.
The field is estimated to prevent the emission of around 1,000 tons
of carbon dioxide annually. Implementation is nearing completion:
3,600 solar panels have been built on a structure of concrete girders
extending across the river with steel supports -- 325 meters (about
1,066 feet) long and 32 meters (about 104 feet) wide -- that form a
"suspension bridge" without any obstruction to the flow of the river.
The solar field is expected to connect to the public network in May
2015 through a transformer and without storage. The beneficiaries of
the energy produced will primarily be the people of Bourj Hammoud,
who will experience a sense that they own exceptional clean energy
produced by the river that passes through their area.
This is the first stage of the project -- called the "Beirut River
Solar Snake" -- which is part of the national project for energy
self-sufficiency being pursued by the Lebanese Center for Energy
Conservation (LCEC), which was approved by the parliament in November
2011. The project's ultimate goal is to produce 10 megawatts from solar
fields extending 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) over the river in around 5
years, to meet the needs of 10,000 homes. The Ministry of Energy and
Water has guaranteed $3 million of funding for the first stage. It
is hoped that with the beginning of the second stage, between 1 and 2
megawatts will be produced in 2015. According to the budgeting plan,
each stage will be funded by the value of electricity produced in
the previous stage.
Is Lebanon, the country with 300 sunny days a year, really proud of
1 megawatt of solar energy, though?
Pierre El Khoury, the director of the LCEC, said that the importance
of the Beirut River Solar Snake is not in its material value alone,
but also in its encouragement of the solar market. Since the project's
implementation began in late 2013, photovoltaic systems have been
assembled in Lebanon that amount to a capacity of 30 megawatts in
the private sector, in factories, schools, hospitals and elsewhere.
Phoenix-ASACO was contracted to execute the project as it was the one
to bid the lowest price. The 12 companies that participated in the bid
are presently working on installing the photovoltaic cells to produce
electricity with solar energy. Khoury expects that between 200 and 300
additional megawatts will be produced by 2020, if the private sector
opens the gate to the production of solar electricity, and if that
production is connected to the Lebanese electrical company's network
(Electricite du Liban). In April 2014, parliament approved a law,
which the government is now creating mechanisms to implement, to allow
the government to give licenses to produce electricity based on the
recommendation of the Ministry of Energy and Water and the Ministry of
Finance. This suggestion has been made, and it is now being discussed.
As for maintenance, the most important thing is cleaning dust off the
solar panels, which will be done with hoses. Panels that break for
whatever reason will also be replaced. A 3-meter (9.8-foot) fence
will be installed on the banks of the river to prevent anyone from
reaching the panels, with permanent guards and cameras monitoring
the whole solar field.
The "solar river" will not only be for electricity production. Those
involved in the project hope it will become an "oasis of civil
organization" through a future plan to create a public park
that focuses on the spread of ideas about renewable energy and
self-sufficiency, and the construction of a path to cross the "solar
bridge" that divides Beirut and Mount Lebanon in Bourj Hammoud, the
widest river bridge in Lebanon. A sign will be erected that shows
the amount of electricity produced at different times, the amount of
carbon emissions that are avoided and the environmental benefits of
the project.
Khoury added excitedly, "The value of the project is also that it
is the first solar field in the world located above a river." Such
a project could be implemented on a canal in Aqabah, and India is
aiming to implement a plan to install solar fields over its canals. He
indicated that a project for a solar field is coming in the Zahrani
area, where the tapline refinery has been defunct for many years. The
facilities there are used to hold fuel, and there is a wide area of
land that belongs to the Ministry of Energy on which a solar field can
be built with funding from oil facilities. The goal is the production
of 1 megawatt in the first stage, with 2 megawatts to be added after
connection to the network of the Lebanese electrical company. Nine
suggestions were made, and a company will be chosen to implement this
project soon and work is expected to begin in May 2015. The price will
be lower and the implementation quicker than the Beirut River Solar
Snake project, since the solar field will be located on the ground
without the need for the extension of bridges above water. The first
stage can be completed before the end of 2015. A problem in Lebanon
could be the lack of land, but there is public property upon which
solar fields can be created. The country must not be treated as if it
is real estate only for sale that cannot be used for public interest.
The commons must be used for the benefit of people, and not for sects
and those with influence.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/63881
From: Baghdasarian
March 16, 2015
The beneficiaries of the energy produced will primarily be the people
of Bourj Hammoud, who will experience a sense that they own exceptional
clean energy produced by the river that passes through their area.
Bourj Hammoud is a suburb in North-East Beirut, Lebanon. The suburb is
heavily populated by Armenians. Bourj Hammoud is an industrious area
and is one of the most densely populated districts in the Middle East.
Bourj Hammoud was founded by survivors of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915.
Al Monitor (Beirut) - A field stretches by a river, but it does not
produce fruits and vegetables. It features, however, devices that
produce electricity from the sun. A blue expanse of solar panels
covers the Beirut River between the Armenia bridge and Yerevan bridge
in Bourj Hammoud. This solar field now has 1 megawatt of capacity,
and is estimated to guarantee 1.6 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) per
year, fulfilling the needs of around 1,000 homes.
The field is estimated to prevent the emission of around 1,000 tons
of carbon dioxide annually. Implementation is nearing completion:
3,600 solar panels have been built on a structure of concrete girders
extending across the river with steel supports -- 325 meters (about
1,066 feet) long and 32 meters (about 104 feet) wide -- that form a
"suspension bridge" without any obstruction to the flow of the river.
The solar field is expected to connect to the public network in May
2015 through a transformer and without storage. The beneficiaries of
the energy produced will primarily be the people of Bourj Hammoud,
who will experience a sense that they own exceptional clean energy
produced by the river that passes through their area.
This is the first stage of the project -- called the "Beirut River
Solar Snake" -- which is part of the national project for energy
self-sufficiency being pursued by the Lebanese Center for Energy
Conservation (LCEC), which was approved by the parliament in November
2011. The project's ultimate goal is to produce 10 megawatts from solar
fields extending 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) over the river in around 5
years, to meet the needs of 10,000 homes. The Ministry of Energy and
Water has guaranteed $3 million of funding for the first stage. It
is hoped that with the beginning of the second stage, between 1 and 2
megawatts will be produced in 2015. According to the budgeting plan,
each stage will be funded by the value of electricity produced in
the previous stage.
Is Lebanon, the country with 300 sunny days a year, really proud of
1 megawatt of solar energy, though?
Pierre El Khoury, the director of the LCEC, said that the importance
of the Beirut River Solar Snake is not in its material value alone,
but also in its encouragement of the solar market. Since the project's
implementation began in late 2013, photovoltaic systems have been
assembled in Lebanon that amount to a capacity of 30 megawatts in
the private sector, in factories, schools, hospitals and elsewhere.
Phoenix-ASACO was contracted to execute the project as it was the one
to bid the lowest price. The 12 companies that participated in the bid
are presently working on installing the photovoltaic cells to produce
electricity with solar energy. Khoury expects that between 200 and 300
additional megawatts will be produced by 2020, if the private sector
opens the gate to the production of solar electricity, and if that
production is connected to the Lebanese electrical company's network
(Electricite du Liban). In April 2014, parliament approved a law,
which the government is now creating mechanisms to implement, to allow
the government to give licenses to produce electricity based on the
recommendation of the Ministry of Energy and Water and the Ministry of
Finance. This suggestion has been made, and it is now being discussed.
As for maintenance, the most important thing is cleaning dust off the
solar panels, which will be done with hoses. Panels that break for
whatever reason will also be replaced. A 3-meter (9.8-foot) fence
will be installed on the banks of the river to prevent anyone from
reaching the panels, with permanent guards and cameras monitoring
the whole solar field.
The "solar river" will not only be for electricity production. Those
involved in the project hope it will become an "oasis of civil
organization" through a future plan to create a public park
that focuses on the spread of ideas about renewable energy and
self-sufficiency, and the construction of a path to cross the "solar
bridge" that divides Beirut and Mount Lebanon in Bourj Hammoud, the
widest river bridge in Lebanon. A sign will be erected that shows
the amount of electricity produced at different times, the amount of
carbon emissions that are avoided and the environmental benefits of
the project.
Khoury added excitedly, "The value of the project is also that it
is the first solar field in the world located above a river." Such
a project could be implemented on a canal in Aqabah, and India is
aiming to implement a plan to install solar fields over its canals. He
indicated that a project for a solar field is coming in the Zahrani
area, where the tapline refinery has been defunct for many years. The
facilities there are used to hold fuel, and there is a wide area of
land that belongs to the Ministry of Energy on which a solar field can
be built with funding from oil facilities. The goal is the production
of 1 megawatt in the first stage, with 2 megawatts to be added after
connection to the network of the Lebanese electrical company. Nine
suggestions were made, and a company will be chosen to implement this
project soon and work is expected to begin in May 2015. The price will
be lower and the implementation quicker than the Beirut River Solar
Snake project, since the solar field will be located on the ground
without the need for the extension of bridges above water. The first
stage can be completed before the end of 2015. A problem in Lebanon
could be the lack of land, but there is public property upon which
solar fields can be created. The country must not be treated as if it
is real estate only for sale that cannot be used for public interest.
The commons must be used for the benefit of people, and not for sects
and those with influence.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/63881
From: Baghdasarian