Northern Africa

The 25-year agreement relates to a 6 MW solar plant that will meet up to 4% of the electricity demand of a facility owned by the Arabian Cement Company, in Egypt’s Suez governorate. The project is being financed by local bank QNB AlAhli under the EBRD’s Green Economy Program.

Through the procurement, now at the pre-qualification stage, Moroccan state-owned utility ONE aims to build seven large-scale PV plants in the south and east of the country. German development bank KfW is a partner in the project.

At the end of December, the Algerian government issued a tender for off-grid gas/diesel and solar projects in non-interconnected areas in the south of the country.

The Saudi developer is reportedly suffering fines of $700/MW/day for late delivery of a project at the Benban solar complex in Egypt as 180 MW of plants near completion.

Up to 16 developers have prequalified in Tunisia’s tender for five PV projects totaling 500 MW, from a total of 38 participants. Unlike previous tenders, this one has attracted key international players including Enel, Engie, EDF, Fotowatio, TBEA and Canadian Solar.

The Spanish inverter maker will provide Norwegian developer Scatec with 66 PV inverter stations for projects it is building at the Benban complex.

Through the tender, the Algerian Government will select IPP solar projects with a capacity range of 10-50 MW. The projects, to be located in the southwestern part of the country, will be developed on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis. Domestic content rules require the use of solar modules assembled in Algeria, as well as locally manufactured mounting structures and cables.

Caterpillar-branded SunPower modules will be available in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East – but not yet the United States.

The rise of batteries will attract that headline figure in investment up to 2040, say analysts, as exponential growth in EV ownership, falling stationery system costs and the needs of the world’s grid-poor regions combine to boost lithium-ion technology.

The country’s second 70 MW procurement – for solar projects up to 10 MW in size – was launched in May. The Tunisian government had already extended the deadline for the tender in August.