Turkey

The Cheer-Up project aims to enhance the performance of ‘upgraded metallurgical-grade (UMG) silicon for multi-crystalline solar cells and demonstrate it is a competitive alternative to polysilicon by achieving similar efficiencies at lower cost and with less environmental impact. Researchers also want to demonstrate UMG can be used to manufacture the most advanced cell structures.

The Middle East, and the Gulf in particular, has been home to record low solar tariffs in recent years. Major projects are being awarded via tenders, with prices gradually closing in on a remarkable 1 USDct/kWh. Of course, this is no coincidence due to the region’s favorable solar conditions: availability of cheap and sunny desert land, low labor costs, cheap project financing, supportive tax regimes, large projects benefitting from economies of scale, well designed tender structures, and decreasing PV component prices.

If the three record-busting low solar price tariffs recorded in the Middle East in the past 18 months are to be believed, renewables-powered hydrogen in prime sites in the region could already compete with gas-plus-CCS production, according to IRENA. Has the Gulf discovered the new petrol?

Energy efficiency, electrification of heating and transport, and the provision of clean cooking facilities are all going in the wrong direction as the Covid crisis deprived millions in sub-Saharan Africa of electricity use, according to a report by the IEA, IRENA, WHO, World Bank and UN Statistics Division.

The procurement exercise’s highest price was $0.037/kWh. The Turkish authorities selected projects ranging in size from 10 to 20 MW and relying on 70% locally manufactured panels.

The new provisions are aimed at implementing the primary legislation introduced in February 2020. The Turkish storage market may reach a size of 1 GWh per year within the next two years.

Turkish researchers have developed a cooling technique in which water is sprayed via an air-assisted external mixing flat fan nozzle. The system can produce smaller droplet sizes to ensure the even distribution of water on panels.

According to official statistics from grid operator TEIAS, the country added around 400 MW of PV capacity in the first four months of 2021.

The first phase of the procurement exercise is expected to be finalized by the end of the week. The record low bid, for Turkey, was submitted for a 10 MW project in the Antalya region, in the sunny southern part of the country.

The Turkish Ministry of Energy has completed, thus far, only the tender’s first 60 MW tranche, and the four winning bids ranged from $0.0248/kWh to $0.0335/kWh. The other tranches of the procurement exercise will be finalized over the next few days.