Morocco

Bidders who have been pre-qualified to compete in a tender opened a year ago will now advance to the second phase of the procurement exercise.

The latest edition of the accountant’s renewables attractiveness index has placed the nation in top spot for photovoltaics, helping it to fourth spot for overall clean energy investment. Mexico has been hammered by the government’s attitude to clean power and France has also slipped, four places.

The 24-day, digital 2020 Africa Energy Forum kicked off on October 20. The event brings together African energy sector officials to identify opportunities, air their views, form partnerships, and take the necessary steps to improve the industry. For solar, challenges in policy making, procurement processes and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were discussed, as well as emerging trends such as solar digitalization.

Scientists in France conducted an analysis on the competitiveness of water desalination, taking a large scale project planned for Morocco as a case study. The research concludes that PV without storage is the cheapest option to power desalinators, and will likely remain so until at least 2030.

Moroccan scientists have tested reverse osmosis paired with PV generation to maximize chlorophenol rejection in wastewater treatment. They said the tech combination can help to reduce energy consumption.

Moroccan researchers have set up a new floating PV test bench. They claim floating solar arrays offer better power yields than rooftop and ground-mounted PV systems, with lower module operating temperatures.

Scientists in Morocco have designed a new bifacial module with a cooling system, based on bifacial parabolic solar cells that are connected to each other via tubes for panel cooling. They are now patenting the tech, but have yet to manufacture an initial prototype.

The device is based on a state-feedback adaptive control system in a real-time controller. According to its developers, it can achieve good dynamic response and boasts better bandwidth than current commercial alternatives.

Illegally re-badged panels were sold on to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Turkey and even Syria. Italian authorities found 60 tons of panels which will be examined.

The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy has started to pre-qualify developers for the first phase of the Noor PV II solar project.