United Arab Emirates

In a study on the potential for local manufacturing of renewable energy equipment in the Arab region, IRENA has assessed how three pilot Arab countries – Lebanon, Jordan and the UAE – where development of clean energy is currently strong, may host PV, CSP and wind energy industries. In all of them, however, there are currently few chances of seeing a rising solar and renewable energy manufacturing industry, due to a series of challenges, such as, among others, the lack of a qualified workforce, and favorable regulatory settings.

Taiwan-based analyst firm, WisolPro says the global capacity for PERC cells is rapidly increasing, with the technology likely to replace polycrystalline cells. HJT, thin film, and n-type PERT technologies are also on the rise.

A newly created Artificial Intelligence Lab created by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment will use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to identify concentrated solar energy locations in the Emirates.

A deal between Xcel Energy and steelmaker EVRAZ includes the building of a 240 MW solar project near the company’s Rocky Mountain Steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado. This is by far the largest behind-the-meter solar project pv magazine staff has heard of to date.

To date, 50 MW of net-metered solar power arrays have been connected to the grid in the Emirates. One of the latest is a 2 MW PV carport at the headquarters of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) building.

The Saudi-based energy company has sold a 24.01% stake in its 700 MW CSP project to China’s Silk Road Fund.

The EPC provider, which is active in the MENA region, announced that it expects a 900 MW pipeline shortly. The company was recently acquired by U.K.-based Arjun Investment Partners and reportedly has increased its staff size by 30% this year. The company cites an increasing interest in asset diversification and good economics as reasons for MENA’s investment in solar PV.

Together with its asset construction division, Oryx Solar System Solutions LLC (Oryx), Phanes Group is delivering the Middle East’s largest distributed solar project. Stefanos Lialios, Head of Project Execution at Phanes Group in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) spoke to pv magazine about the challenges faced in building and operating the landmark project, and finding the right equipment and solutions to address these challenges.

The Japanese provider will supply NAS Battery Systems with a combined capacity of 1.2 MW, and a storage capacity of 7.2 MWh. The batteries will serve Phase I of the 1 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Most of the capacity, around 27 MW, was deployed in the emirate over the past eight months.