Wind Power in North Africa, Part I

Renewable energy in Morocco

In a move to boost investment in the renewable energy sector, Morocco will amend its legislation on its development.

When adopted, the new law, will allow renewable energy producers to make surplus electricity available to all connected to the state owned utility ONEE, responsible for the national grid.

The proposed changes will also raise the minimum capacity of hydro-power projects to 30 MW from the present 12 MW.

Morocco has several big ongoing projects in the solar, wind and hydro power sector and is targeting to increase the share of renewable energy to 42% of the total installed capacity in the country by 2020, with more solar, wind and hydro power projects, each contributing 14%.   Thanks to this strategy, Morocco is now a regional leader in terms of installed wind power capacity, followed by Egypt with 650 MW and Tunisia with 240 MW.

For instance, the Noor concentrated solar power complex is projected to have a total installed capacity of 500 MW with the first 160 MW starting production by the end of this year.

With respect to wind power, the latest 300 MW project was commissioned at the end of 2014 bringing the total installed capacity to 787 MW and the floating of a tender for the project of another wind power farm of 850 MW capacity is “within weeks”, an informed source at the Moroccan Electricity and Water Utility Company (ONEE) told local daily L’economiste, a francophone business newspaper published in Morocco and specializing in economic and financial news..

ONEE has already shortlisted several major groups that met the pre-qualification requirements. These include Spanish Acciona Energia and Acciona Wind Power, France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles with Qatar Electricity and Water Company, Fipar Holding, and Alstom Wind as well as the Saudi group International Company for Water and Power Project in cooperation with Gamesa Eolica Sl. Among the shortlisted are also UK’s International Power PLC with International Power LTD (UAE) and Vestas France SAS.  Last but not least, Moroccan Nareva Holding has joined forces with Enel Green Power and Siemens Wind Power AS.  Opening of the tenders is expected between 2017 and 2019.

Meanwhile, the 300 MW Tarfaya wind farm developed by Tarec (Tarfaya Energy Company), at a cost of $514m to build is a 50/50 joint venture of Nareva Holding and International Power Ltd.  The site comprises 131 Siemens turbines in an area of 728 hectares.  Its power output is estimated to be over 1,000 GWh per year.

Further reading but in French is at http://www.leconomiste.com/article/976297-energies-renouvelables-l-etat-veut-aller-plus-vite

UAE Construction Sector Legal background

UAE Construction Sector Legal background

Celine Kanakri, senior associate at Baker & McKenzie wrote back in May 2015 advising to undertake commercial and technical due diligence before signing any contract and elaborating she holds that :

The UAE’s booming construction industry prevailing contractual arrangements have been based on international best practices that were adopted locally, with many construction contracts in the country modelled on the ‘International Federation of Consulting Engineers’ (FIDIC) typical contract.

The fundamentals of a contract are nevertheless to understand one’s rights and obligations under UAE‘s Law in terms of contract price, variations, damages and termination.

CONTRACT PRICE

In the GCC countries, the preferred arrangement of a lump-sum contract is dominant and any request for additional costs or remuneration for execution of the originally agreed design is in principle not allowed.  However, one should bear in mind that if a variation or an addition to the design is made with the employer’s consent, the contractor could be allowed to recover costs for the additional works.

DAMAGES

Liquidated damages clauses that are very common in construction contracts are in principle valid and enforceable under UAE law, with certain exceptions.

TERMINATION

Automatic termination, termination by agreement of both parties and unilateral termination/termination for convenience are possible under UAE law, provided that the contractual provisions in that respect are clear.

UAE Law 

UAE law in the interpretation of construction contracts being the ultimate reference, legal advice prior to entering into a contract is of paramount importance.  All commercial and technical due diligence exercises are therefore vital before pricing and committing to a delivery date.

In a nutshell, UAE law lists and covers sectors in relation to which the federal government has exclusive power to make laws such as those related to education and labour, leaving the individual emirates to provide for all residual lawmaking such as about their own natural resources.  In any case, Federal law overrides the “local” law.

Generally the Law is made of the Commercial Code covering all trading activities and/or all commercial activities whereas the Civil Code does elaborate on the general contractual principles and covers specific business arrangements.

In the specific case of construction contracts, parties are entitled to rely on agreed contractual terms but only to the extent that they obstruct or contradict public order or decency and are not inconsistent with mandatory provisions of law.

“Contract Law”

It is found in various provisions of the Commercial and Civil Codes.  These are the mandatory sections to all contracts as specifically set out in 25 Articles of the Civil Code to cover what is locally called a  “Muqawala” which are fundamentally agreements to undertake a project for a fee.

Decennial Liability

The Civil Code holds a very important principle that imposes strict joint liability on contractor and supervising architect for 10 years as off “delivery” of the work.   This liability covers collapse total or partial and any defect threatening stability or safety of the building.

 

Which degrees did the world’s top billionaires have ?

Or put another way:

 

What degree should you study to become a billionaire?   Engineering is a winner – if you go to university at all, that is.

By Lauren Davidson

Published   The Telegraph   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

25 Mar 2015

Prospective university students set on making their millions should sign up for some extra engineering lectures, new analysis has shown.

More than a fifth, or 22 per cent, of the world’s wealthiest people studied engineering at university, accounting for almost twice as many billionaires’ degrees as the next most popular choice.

A business education has helped 12 per cent of plutocrats amass their fortunes, while nine per cent of the fattest cats studied an arts subject at university – more than those who specialised in more business-oriented topics such as economics and finance.

Approved Index, the business-to-business buying platform, analysed the educational background of billionaires by examining Forbes’ list of the richest 100 people in the world.

While just four per cent of these people studied maths and science at university, the strong turnout for engineering graduates supports those campaigning for a better emphasis in schools on so-called STEM subjects, which includes science, technology, engineering and maths.

Engineering graduates are also the richest of their prosperous peers, with an average wealth of $25.8bn, compared to a net worth of $24bn for billionaires without a degree and $22.5bn for those who studied finance.

Girls who take just one A-level in this area could earn an extra £4,500 each year, a recent report found, while those who do two STEM subjects could see their salaries increase by a third. The wage boost for boys is slightly lower, at 8 per cent.

The recent focus on STEM subjects means the billionaires of the future could look different to those of today. The number of students taking chemistry at A-level has risen by almost a fifth, while physics, biology and maths have increased by 15 per cent, 12 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

WATCH: Who are the five richest people in the world?

An Oxbridge education bumps up a starting salary to the tune of £7,600, according to a recent report from the Sutton Trust, although another survey found that a degree from the London Business School is the most lucrative for British alumni.

However, the report suggests that multi-millionaires in the making might be better off foregoing university altogether, as almost a third of the wealthiest people in the world do not have degrees – although their average wealth is lower than those with engineering degrees.

Bill Gates, the richest person in the world with a fortune of around $79bn (£53.1bn), famously dropped out of Harvard, as did Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the youngest person in Forbes’ top 100 with a $33.4bn net worth.

Amy Catlow, director at Approved Index, said: “These findings undoubtedly add a new dimension to the debate about the relevance and value of a degree today and suggest that in order to have a thriving and diverse economy, we need to encourage a varied range of specialisms.”

There are 2,325 billionaires in the world with a combined net worth of $7.29 trillion, which is almost a tenth of global GDP and is higher than the combined market capitalisation of all the companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to The Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census.