Middle East

The region’s climate, developing economies and demographic growth are driving increased electricity demand in the Middle East and North Africa. However, as a hub of conventional energy supply, the region has been slow to embrace PV. To capture more of the value chain and deliver the full potential of solar, there are increasing calls for distributed generation deployment to play a bigger role.

The state-owned power generator will follow the bidding route for development of solar projects in African countries that are members of the International Solar Alliance.

The Renewable Energy Project Development Office is tendering seven large-scale IPP solar projects. The exercise is part of Round 2 of the Saudi National Renewable program, which is expected to allocate almost 2.2 GW of PV capacity this year.

The nation saw 1.3 GW of renewable energy secured for business through private PPAs in 2018, almost twice as much as the volume recorded in Australia, but the picture could change next year if China follows through with its renewable portfolio standard commitment.

Abu Dhabi based Masdar Clean Energy is in talks to acquire a 30-35% stake in Hero Future Energies. With the stake sale, the renewable energy arm of Hero Group expects to raise $300-350 million for its expansion into global markets, according to reports.

The fate of the clutch of 500 MW-plus projects due to break ground this year could determine whether such ambitious schemes have a viable future, says Wood Mackenzie in its solar 2019 forecast. And the Indian market should brace for consolidation, add the analysts, because of aggressive reverse-auction tariff pricing.

With the International Renewable Energy Agency’s number-crunchers predicting almost 5.4 GW of new solar across the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations today, Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui said his nation alone would install 6-7 GW of new renewables capacity by 2024, as pv magazine editor-in-chief Jonathan Gifford reports.

The Indian Ocean state has received $10m in concessional loan funding from the development agency of Abu Dhabi, in a program co-financed by the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Two of the world’s biggest players in the oil industry have backed the nation’s ambitious solar target – and are putting their money where their mouth is.

Although the “solar flow battery” is currently considered too expensive by its own creators, a further improvement of its design and the use of emerging solar materials and new electrochemistry may open new opportunities for this kind of technology.