Middle East

Saudi Arabia had a record year for solar deployment last year, taking cumulative capacity past 12.4 GW. GlobalData is forecasting annual deployments to increase in the coming years but notes that they remain behind the pace required to meet the country’s target of 130 GW of renewables by 2030, instead nearing the goal by 2035.

Alparslan Bayraktar, Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, says 2026 will be a record year for renewables in the country after total deployed solar reached 25,827 MW by the end of January.

The Nexis solution combines a flexibly configurable hybrid inverter with a modular high-voltage battery offering up to 14 kW charging capacity per stack. The inverter delivers 8–20 kW AC power, supports up to 200% DC oversizing, and features IP65-rated design with integrated backup power.

Analysis from GlobalData finds the UAE’s cumulative solar capacity increased from 5.7 GW to around 6.7 GW last year. The country’s annual solar deployments are forecast to increase in the coming years, with 20 GW of installed solar expected by the end of the decade.

An international research team developed CyberSentry, a software framework using advanced deep learning and optimization techniques to enhance cybersecurity in SCADA systems for power plants and critical infrastructure. It combines feature selection, hybrid anomaly detection, and dynamic parameter tuning to detect diverse cyberattacks with 99.5% accuracy while minimizing false alarms.

The Bilaj Al Jazayer Independent Power Project will be developed under a public-private partnership on a build-own-operate basis.

Freight costs from the Far East to the U.S. and Europe have increased week-on-week, while almost 150 container ships currently unable to leave the Arabian Gulf due to the risk of sailing through an active conflict zone, according to analysis from ocean and freight rate benchmarking platform Xeneta.

Researchers in Türkiye have developed a passive anti-soiling coating for PV panels using oleic acid–modified aluminum oxide nanoparticles applied via spray coating. Laboratory and field tests showed the coating reduced dust accumulation and initially boosted daily energy output, though performance declined under prolonged environmental stressors.

Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity says an initial 61 MW from the first unit of a planned 1 GW solar project has commenced. The project is being developed across four 250 MW units, with final commissioning currently scheduled for 2028.

The Iraqi Customs Authority has cut customs duties on solar energy systems from 33% to 5% – covering PV panels, inverters, cables, and lithium batteries – to accelerate solar adoption, following financing support from the Central Bank of Iraq.