Pave the Way for PV Implementation in MENA (Middle East North African) Countries and Africa- The PV Parity Project

29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 3989-3993 The RES Directive 2009/28/CE paves the way for a solid cooperation between European Member states but also reinforces the international collaboration with third countries such as the Middle East North Africa (MENA) countries. Articles 9 and 10 of the RES Directive regulate the implementation of joint projects between one or more European Member States and one or more third countries in order to enhance the cross border exchange of renewable energy. Besides their high solar potential, only few MWp of PV have been installed until today in MENA countries. Even though the RES Directive provides the European Member States with clear guidelines on how to implement the cross border exchange of renewable energy, until now the European Members States have not implemented the flexible mechanisms to exchange renewable energy among European Member States and third countries. In this paper the reasons behind this missing exchange of RES between Europe and MENA countries have been investigated. The work presented in this paper has been based on the results obtained with the PV Parity project, which was co-financed by the European Commission, under the Intelligent Energy Programme, and started in June 2011 and ended in November 2013. This paper also provides an overview on the results related to the PV competitiveness in South Africa. The results achieved within the PV Parity projects have been discussed with all relevant stakeholders, such as the European Commission, distributor systems operators, utilities, regulators, energy agencies. This has been done in order to provide policy makers with objective and transparent information to guarantee a sustainable PV electricity generation in MENA countries and Africa.