Tesla may drive regional clean energy growth


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Leipzig // The US electric car maker Tesla's battery technology could hold the key to the growth of the region's clean energy sector.

Renewable energy faces limitations with a lack of cost efficient energy storage capabilities at present but Tesla Motors is investing about US$5 bn in its lithium-ion batteries for their widespread use in electric vehicles (EVs) and solar power plants via its partner, SolarCity.

And there is a demand for the Tesla products in the UAE and wider regional market, according to the company’s chief technology officer, Jeffrey Brian Straubel.

Speaking at the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany on Thursday, he said Tesla was seeing an interest for energy storage products in the region as a result of the movements toward sources such as solar power.

“I definitely think the potential for renewable energy in the region is extremely high and we’ve seen a demand for storage products there, but it’s tough for us - we’re still a small company,” he said.

Tesla’s business model is to reach “critical mass” in every market that it currently operates before expanding to new areas. “We’re trying to take this one step at a time,” said Mr Straubel adding that there had to be enough to justify the investments needed to support the cars while maintaining a level of quality.

This month, Tesla recorded a first quarter loss in line with expectations. The chief executive Elon Musk said vehicle production could hit 1 million units by 2020.

Steve Griffiths, the vice president of research at Abu Dhabi's Masdar Institute, said that using Tesla's batteries for residential solar does not yet make sense economically in the UAE. "We still have very low electricity prices for consumers even though a great effort is being made in subsidy reform. Policies directly aimed at distributed storage are certainly not in place," he said.

“I’m more optimistic that transmission and distribution storage functions such as grid storage may find a place in the UAE sooner rather than later,” Mr Griffiths said, adding that Masdar Institute was exploring some other technologies that were better suited for these applications.

But the Tesla dream is still alive.

“Energy storage is the holy grail of renewable energy,” said Reda El Chaar, the chairman of Dubai’s Access Power. “It’s great to be able to generate solar electricity at 3 US cents per kilowatt hour, but if you can’t store it and then dispatch it at night when most needed, then your market share will always be restricted.”

Mr El Chaar said the latest battery storage technology unveiled by Tesla would hopefully lead the way to a commercially viable solution which will revolutionise the renewable energy market.

“Today the industry is entirely dependent on figuring out a way to store the energy produced for when it’s needed most,” he said.

“The person who unlocks this enigma will be the next Bill Gates.”

lgraves@thenational.ae

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If you go

The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.

While you're here
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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Price: From Dh139,000
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Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.

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“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.

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Two stars out of five 

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Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

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Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

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Price: From Dh1,700,000

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Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

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What is an FTO Designation?

FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes. 

It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.

Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.

Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.

Source: US Department of State

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
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