Middle East

Saudi energy company Acwa Power announces $275 million has been borrowed for a project which is due to start supplying electricity to the national utility this year under a 15-year power supply deal.

The airline industry has been among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic; carriers are in ‘freefall’ as Glen Peters, research director at the Center for International Climate and Environment Research in Oslo recently wrote, with governments mulling stimulus packages for airline bailouts. How we react to the coronavirus outbreak is crucial for society as a whole and the solar and energy storage industries can lead the charge in rewriting the status quo.

The Renewable Energy Project Development Office has prequalified 49 developers for the tender. Four large-scale solar projects will be built via the procurement exercise.

The meeting planned yesterday to open the final bids by consortia vying to develop the 1.5 GW Al-Dhafra solar field in Abu Dhabi was reportedly postponed because coronavirus-related restrictions on public gatherings in the emirate. The chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy told pv magazine this year the project would bring a new low price for solar power.

Italian company Ecoprogetti will supply the production equipment to Bahrain-based module producer Solartecc. Output is set to begin in the third quarter.

A’Namaa Poultry is seeking proposals for a solar power plant. The project selected will reportedly secure a power supply deal lasting up to 25 years.

Dubai-based PV developer Enerwhere has come up with a new business model for solar projects at construction sites. Its approach, which is based on short-duration PPAs, involves moving mobile PV installations from one building site to another.

The Climate Investment Platform launched by three multilateral bodies in September is now open for business and renewables companies in developing nations could qualify for help with clean energy facilities, renewables-related grid improvements and energy efficiency schemes.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s new research facility at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will primarily focus on solar power, energy efficiency, and the integration of smart grids.

The 8 MW facility has been developed by a cement producer to supply around 10% of the annual electricity needs of its nearby factory. Under subsidy-free rules, the power will be bought by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus for the average price it would have paid if the electricity had come from fossil fuels.