Important milestone for the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP) takes place at the Dead Sea

Amman, 30^th May, 2013. The Ad Hoc UfM Senior Officials Meeting on Energy was held on 29-30 May 2013 in Jordan. The Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, HE Eng. Malek KABARITI, opened the meeting, which was co-organized and co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the European Union, Co-presidencies of the Union for the Mediterranean. The meeting was an important milestone for the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP) foreseen to be endorsed by the UfM Ministerial Meeting on Energy on 11 December 2013 in Brussels.

The Senior Officials discussed the MSP Master Plan Draft prepared under the auspices of the UfM Secretariat (UfMS). They also discussed the wider preparation of the UfM Ministerial Conference on Energy, notably regarding the agenda and key deliverables.

“Renewable energy is the theme of the future, and is key to the sustainable development of the Mediterranean region, including for Jordan. As co-chair for the UFM, I am delighted to be hosting this meeting”, said the Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, HE Eng. Malek KABARITI.

“There is major potential for the region in progressing in the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Solar Plan is going to help materialize this potential, and from the UfM Secretariat, we are very pleased to be facilitating this key process”, said Ambassador Sotiris Varouxakis, UfMS Deputy Secretary General

“The Solar Plan is a key priority for the EU. We are strongly committed to supporting it and will certainly do our part to make it happen”, said Mr Barbaso, Deputy Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy.

The MSP was launched in July 2008 at the Paris Summit by the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU Member States and 16 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries. It aims to substantially increase power generation from renewable sources, mainly solar and wind, in the region, setting a target of 20 GW of installed capacity by 2020. It also aims to enhance the use of energy efficiency technologies.

The MSP Master Plan is the result of an intensive work performed by the UfMS, the Member States, the European Commission, the League of Arab States and other relevant stakeholders such as financial institutions, industry organizations, regional and sub-regional platforms and projects. Once adopted by the Ministerial Meeting, the MSP Master Plan will provide a regional strategic framework and policy roadmap identifying the key actions, of a legal, technical and financial nature, necessary to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency across the Mediterranean region.