Lebanon

Lebanon’s government has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 11 projects with 165 MW of PV capacity. Investors have one year to reach financial closure.

DT Global, a US-based development firm, is seeking engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors to build a PV plant with 5 MW to 7 MW of capacity in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Banque De L’Habitat is rolling out a new scheme to provide loans to help Lebanese households buy and install PV systems. It is running the scheme with the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC), which is providing technical assistance.

The Lebanese government has approved 11 licenses for 165 MW of PV capacity. The licenses are part of a 180 MW solar tender that the country initiated in January 2017.

Amid reports of panels that should be destined for recycling instead being sold off in the Middle East and Africa, and the potential to bulk out products with non-functioning solar cells, a Beirut-based body has advised the government to shut down second-hand imports.

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.