Every house in Awali could soon be run on solar energy, if a pilot project initiated by Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) proves successful.

US company Petrosolar is now conducting a study on the feasibility of the project, said Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and Noga chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.

'We had a meeting with a Petrosolar delegation, led by chairman Jenny Martin, which visited Bahrain and they said solar power was a real alternative in Bahrain,' he told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

Dr Mirza said Noga was also discussing how to finance the project.

'If the project is successfully implemented in Awali, there is a real possibility it could take off and be implemented in other Bahrain areas as well,' he said.

'During the Pertrosolar visit, we also discussed the future of energy in Bahrain.'

The GDN earlier reported the government had approved plans to set up of two new 'hybrid' power plants, one using solar energy and another using wind power, which combined would generate 200 megawatts of power.

Bahrain University applied physics professor Dr Waheeb Alnaser said the energy content of the sun per square metre was the same as a barrel of oil in Bahrain.

He claimed in this perspective, a field the size of a football pitch had the potential to generate energy equivalent of 2,000 barrels per year - assuming efficiency of solar power conversion technology was only 15 per cent.

Dr Alnaser also revealed that the sun generated an average of 1,900 kilowatts of solar power per square metre in Bahrain annually, which was good compared to the global average of around 1,700kw.-TradeArabia News Service