Cairo: France's Helene Pelosse was elected on Tuesday to head the International Renewable Energy Agency at a meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt's state news agency Mena announced.
Pelosse, a French ministerial official, was named director general of the new agency, beating off challengers from Denmark, Greece and Spain.
On Monday, delegates in Sharm El Sheikh voted for Abu Dhabi to host the headquarters of Irena, after Bonn and Vienna withdrew their candidacies.
The UAE proposes to locate the headquarters in Masdar City, a 22-billion-dollar city near Abu Dhabi that will have zero carbon emissions. It is scheduled for completion in 2015 with a capacity to house up to 50,000 people.
UAE has vowed to offer loans worth 50 million dollars annually through the Abu Dhabi Fund For Development fund to promote the use of renewable energy in developing countries.
Delegates from 129 countries took part in Irena's first working meeting.
The agency, which was launched in Bonn in January, will advise governments on technical and financial issues linked to renewable energy and promote such technology in developing countries.
