Middle East

TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, and Marubeni have switched on Qatar’s first large-scale solar plant in Al Kharsaah, west of Doha. The Siraj-1 plant features 2 million Longi Hi-MO 4 bifacial modules mounted on single-axis trackers.

Waleed AlHallaj, the head of business development for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at JinkoSolar, recently spoke to pv magazine about the prospects for the regional energy storage market. He said that storage systems have already penetrated markets with weak grids, such as Yemen and Lebanon.

Asunim is set to build 42 MW of solar at two sites, paired with existing wind farms in Turkey. The Turkish developer claims that the two projects will achieve a significantly lower levelized cost of energy.

Germany made efforts this week to expand hydrogen ties with the Gulf states, and Japan announced plans to team up with several nations to ramp up hydrogen production. ICIS, meanwhile, has started offering Europe’s first market-linked renewable hydrogen assessments.

OQ says it will set up a new 100 MW solar park at the Block 60 concession area, which is owned by Oman Oil Corporation Exploration & Production.

Saudi Arabia’s latest procurement exercise will facilitate the construction of 1.8 GW of wind power at three sites and two solar parks with a combined capacity of 1.5 GW.

The PV plant is the sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

As Siemens commissions Germany’s second largest electrolyzer at the Energy Park in Wunsiedel, Engie has taken the Final Investment Decision for a project in Western Australia, scheduled for completion in 2024. Meanwhile, two reports shed light on the future of green hydrogen: on the demand side, the MENA region could use it to become the global leader of green steel; on the supply side, BNEF welcomes the support commitments coming from Europe and the United States.