BP Projects Solar Power to Equal Fossil Fuel Costs by 2020

BP officials have predicted the cost of solar energy will fall 10 percent a year for a decade, bringing the expense of solar energy to the same level as that of fossil fuels.

The comparative costs could meet in as soon as five years, according to Vahid Fotuhi, Middle East director of BP Solar, who explained at a conference in Abu Dhabi that the increasing cost of fossil fuel and the decreasing cost of alternative energy would likely meet in the middle.

The increase in oil prices are expected to continue indefinitely, and rise to an average of $94.50 a barrel in 2012 and $102.13 a barrel in 2013.

Middle East expansion

BP confirmed it plans to increase its solar capacity from 200 megawatts to 300 megawatts this year. Fotuhi also confirmed that BP would be pursuing large-scale solar projects in the Middle East.

Other projects in the Middle East include a 100-megawatt solar plant in Abu Dhabi's desert - with the UAE intending to generate seven percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

According to Bloomberg, several tenders to build plants with capacities of about 10 megawatts each will be announced in the Middle East and North Africa in the next year, said Sami Khoreibi, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi-based Enviromena Power Systems. Enviromena built a 10 megawatt plant at Masdar, the renewable energy and low-carbon city project being built in Abu Dhabi.

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