Lebanon

A year after a sudden explosion in Beirut killed more than 200 people, destroying solar installations in the port and sending the country into a complete downfall, a question emerges: Can Lebanon use this experience to set its economy on a new sustainable pathway, supported by a viable energy sector? Solar energy offers some lessons.

The news Lebanon installed new solar capacity last year has come as a huge surprise, given the country is at risk of failure. Amid the country’s crisis, solar is offering solutions.

A French-Lebanese research group has proposed a way to cool down PV modules by using air exhausted from heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. They showed that array performance improves when the cooling load rises.

Lebanon failed to make a bond payment of $1.2 billion due on March 9 – the first sovereign default in the country’s history. pv magazine looks at how Lebanon’s debt troubles are now starting to affect the development of renewable energy.

FlexiDAO is using its software to track the production of solar power from four PV plants in the nation, in conjunction with the UN Development Program.

Solar deployment continued to pick up in the Middle East and North Africa in 2019, the Middle East Solar Industry Association has said in its annual report.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is seeking consultants for a feasibility study for the project. The plant would be constructed on land owned by the Banque du Liban.

The nation has plans for two ambitious renewable energy tenders but the procurement process is dragging and Lebanese institutions lack experience in designing such schemes. A solution will be provided by Europe.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water has qualified 28 domestic and international firms to enter the next stage of a tender for 180 MW of solar generation capacity.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) yesterday unveiled details for Lebanon’s first Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), the largest thus far in the bank’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region (SEMED). The GEFF program is set to address key issues of energy security, efficiency and sustainability for the Middle Eastern country.