Northern Africa

Training and capacity-building become fundamental to effectively support the deployment of renewable energy technologies in Africa. For this reason, RES4Africa Foundation, under the umbrella of the RES4Africa Academy, provides multi-level capacity-building to guarantee open access, inclusivity, youth and women empowerment, linkages with industry and the labour market, and customization to local requirements, among others.

Developed by an international research group, the novel anti-reflective coating is based on silicon dioxide and zirconium dioxide. It reportedly minimizes a solar cell’s reflection loss, while enhancing its light absorption properties.

In November 2022, Germany’s Energie Baden Württemberg and steelmaker Salzgitter Group signed one of Europe’s first power purchase agreements (PPAs) for hydrogen production. More have followed and with the European Union introducing rules to govern green hydrogen, an industry is planning for its future.

Researchers in China have assessed the impact of using up to 50% of the Sahara desert for the deployment of large scale solar power plants and have found these may impact the global cloud cover through disturbed atmospheric teleconnections. This, in turn, would impact solar power generation itself in North Africa, Southern Europe, the Southern Arabian Peninsula, India, North Asia, and even Eastern Australia.

Scientists from China proposed a new method for energy trade optimization between interconnected microgrids and the main utility grid. The novel approach utilizes particle swarm optimization and gravitational search algorithms with Nash Bargaining.

Thresholding methods have commonly been used to characterize the soiling accumulated on glass coupons. Researchers led by the Sapienza University of Rome have identified 16 automatic thresholding methods that may be used for analyzing soiling on PV panels.

A new agreement signed between the Chinese group and Egyptian government officials is part of the country’s Green Corridor Initiative that aims to increase the use of renewable energy. The solar project is expected to save more than $1 billion in annual natural gas costs.

RES4Africa Foundation brings attention to the role of solar PV in addressing the water, energy and food crisis in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries. The region is characterised by abundance of sunlight, coupled with scarce availability of agricultural land and freshwater resources to feed its fast-growing populations.

A handful of projects are now exploring for “natural” hydrogen, also known as “white” hydrogen. pv magazine speaks with Adam Bumby, associate professor of structural geology at the University of Pretoria, about the HyAfrica project and the geological strata and structures that are most suitable for hydrogen storage.

Morocco has announced the pre-qualified bidders for the 400 MW Noor Midelt III solar project, with 400 MWh of battery storage.