Middle East

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.

RenewSys India has filed an application before the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties for the imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of ‘Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) Sheet for Solar Module’ from China PR, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Thailand.

‘Unprecedented challenge’ for fossil fuels as low LCOE for solar and wind power, allied to tumbling storage costs, sees renewables claim a larger share of bulk and dispatchable generation while adding vital flexibility to the global energy mix.