Middle East

An energy transition investment report published this week has also revealed the former world record low price for solar power announced by the Al Dhafra project in Abu Dhabi last year, has fallen even lower since.

The Turkish government has set a ceiling price of TRY0.40/kWh ($0.046) for the fourth procurement exercise of the Yeka program.

Scientists demonstrated a perovskite-silicon tandem cell that reached 27% conversion efficiency. Though higher tandem cell efficiencies have been achieved, this represents a big jump in efficiency for those utilizing n-i-p architecture, which previously had not surpassed 22%.

Saudi scientists have tested several cooling technologies for solar panels and have found that active techniques work better than passive ones under harsh climatic conditions. The most effective one consists of a system based on four heat pipes immersed in a box of liquid, as liquid bulk, integrated with the back of the solar panel.

Italian energy company Eni is partnering with local companies in Algeria and Egypt to explore the possibility of producing green and blue hydrogen in the North African countries. The United Arab Emirates is also collaborating with Japanese partners to develop the country’s hydrogen sector, while in New York, hydrogen has arrived in Long Island.

The Cheer-Up project aims to enhance the performance of ‘upgraded metallurgical-grade (UMG) silicon for multi-crystalline solar cells and demonstrate it is a competitive alternative to polysilicon by achieving similar efficiencies at lower cost and with less environmental impact. Researchers also want to demonstrate UMG can be used to manufacture the most advanced cell structures.

Electricity bill payers in nations as diverse as Germany, Greece, India and China should be aware new solar projects can now generate electricity cheaper for them than legacy coal and gas-fired plants.

The UAE-based developer wants to build several projects at unspecified locations in central and southern Iraq.

The Middle East, and the Gulf in particular, has been home to record low solar tariffs in recent years. Major projects are being awarded via tenders, with prices gradually closing in on a remarkable 1 USDct/kWh. Of course, this is no coincidence due to the region’s favorable solar conditions: availability of cheap and sunny desert land, low labor costs, cheap project financing, supportive tax regimes, large projects benefitting from economies of scale, well designed tender structures, and decreasing PV component prices.

If the three record-busting low solar price tariffs recorded in the Middle East in the past 18 months are to be believed, renewables-powered hydrogen in prime sites in the region could already compete with gas-plus-CCS production, according to IRENA. Has the Gulf discovered the new petrol?