Middle East

The week has seen excellent news for solar in Jordan, which has initiated the tender of the vital Green Corridor project and increased its national target for solar PV. pv magazine reports the latest development from Jordan’s capital city Amman.

Turkey’s largest city, with a population about 14 million people, could face an acute electricity shortage, confirms the Turkish energy minister. However, paradoxically, Turkey’s energy ministry has not made plans for a solar rollout. Instead, it continues to rely on coal.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is injecting USD110 million in new funds to Akbank, one of Turkey’s largest banks, to finance private companies investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Turkey, including solar PV projects.

pv magazine has learned that the Middle East and Northern Africa region is going to acquire its first net metering system with a transfer ownership. Not surprisingly, this development is taking place in Jordan.

A new manufacturing facility and increased activitiy from domestic as well as foreign players is boosting Turkey’s solar sector despite some regulatory obstacles.

pv magazine has learned that construction will begin in 2016 on a new 50 MW solar PV plant at the Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, in Jordan. The project will use Yingli modules and ABB inverters, and is a further indication of the increasingly dynamic PV sector in Jordan.

Abu Dhabi-based Masdar has this week published an official announcement about the installation of a new 200 MW PV plant in Jordan. pv magazine expands on the news and looks at the implications for the Jordanian solar market.

Jordan has designed an effective net metering scheme that is now about to expand into rural areas. Net metering installations are projected to double at the end of 2015.

News of solar PV plans in Jordan is coming in fast and thick on the back of announcements last week that projects totaling 200 MW had been tendered at record low prices. The country appears to be gearing up for its day in the sun, but it can’t afford to rest on its laurels, with the fossil fuel industries still lobbying heavily.

The successful bidders under Jordan’s second 200 MW PV tender round have been announced. Two from Saudi Arabia have generated hopes for a spillover of the uplifting solar mood to the nearby Arab state.