Middle East

In September 2020, Stantec Turkey launched a market assessment report for the Turkish solar PV panel manufacturing sector. The English version of the “Market Report for Turkey’s Photovoltaic Panel Manufacturing” followed in November. The report, based on collected data from local manufacturers, depicts the history of the market since its inception in 2011 and provides unique insights into its development and future potential.

A press release issued by utility DEWA and the state-owned metal manufacturer today implied production of solar-powered aluminum is already taking place.

According to official statistics from grid operator TEIAS, the country’s cumulative PV capacity reached 6.66 GW at the end of December.

International researchers have developed a silicon heterojunction PV cell with textured surfaces to accommodate the perovskite top cell. They optimized the rear transparent electrode to collect as much albedo as possible and achieved five different perovskite bandgaps by altering the iodide-to-bromide ratio in the perovskites, resulting in a higher open-circuit voltage.

The tender will be open to PV projects ranging in size from 10 to 20 MW. The Turkish government has set a ceiling price of TRY0.35 ($0.047)/kWh for the procurement exercise. The selected facilities will be located across 74 grid connection points and will have to rely on locally produced modules.

Plunging regional solar tariffs reportedly prompted attempted renegotiations of agreed solar power prices with the result the kingdom made no progress towards its renewable energy goals in 2020.

Researchers in Saudi Arabia claim to have increased the efficiency of organic PV devices with diquat, a compound used in herbicide. The molecular diquat dopant increased optical absorption and the lifetime of electrical charges when light was absorbed.

The state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has reportedly ended its involvement with the gigawatt scale Dabdaba solar field and asked the national body responsible for drumming up private sector investment to merge it with the 2 GW Shagaya renewables development.

The Israeli government assigned 608.9 MW of PV capacity through the tender and selected seven developers for 33 projects. A storage capacity of around 2,400 MWh will be linked to the selected solar power projects.

France’s EDF and China’s Jinko Power Technology have finalized financing for the 2 GW Al Dhafra PV2 project. The array will sell electricity to Emirates Water and Electricity Co. at a price of $0.0135/kWh.