The year in solar, part IV: More storage and hydrogen advances as solar just kept getting cheaper
Battery innovations started to come thick and fast this quarter as the hunt for alternatives to lithium-ion intensified and the latest slew of solar tenders indicated the relentless pressure on solar power generation costs was showing no sign of abating.
Masdar seals agreement to develop 400 MW of solar in Armenia
The Abu Dhabi-based clean energy group has entered into a formal agreement with an investment fund to develop 400 MW of PV capacity in Armenia, with a projected investment of up to $320 million.
Dubai confirms Saudi’s ACWA won 900 MW solar project tender with $0.016953/kWh bid
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority said the solar generation capacity is expected to come online in the second quarter of 2021. The tender will constitute the fifth phase of the mammoth 5 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.
IRENA predicts LCOE of solar will drop to $0.01-0.05 by mid century
The latest study published by the International Renewable Energy Agency says the average solar electricity cost of $0.085/kWh produced by projects commissioned last year is set to fall to $0.048 next year, and $0.02-0.08 by 2030.
Dubai’s 900 MW solar tender sees lowest bid of $0.0169/kWh
The offer was apparently submitted by Saudi energy giant ACWA Power, which refused to confirm the bid when asked by pv magazine. The second lowest bid – $0.0175/kWh – was reportedly submitted by a consortium formed by Emirati developer Masdar, French utility EDF and Chinese PV panel maker Jinko Power.
Solar and the chocolate factory
The latest 8 MW of net metered solar capacity in Dubai indicates 11 MW were added across ten new arrays in just nine days as the Shams initiative continues to work up a head of steam.
Dubai has 106 MW under net metering
Most of the generation capacity – around 63 MW – was deployed in the emirate over the last 14 months.
Does slew of solar mega tenders mean Gulf nations are belatedly accepting the inevitable?
With Kuwait, Qatar and even renewables laggard Saudi Arabia following in the wake of regional clean energy pioneer the UAE, a raft of huge solar tenders is entering the Middle Eastern project pipeline. Obstacles remain to overseas project developers but significant rewards are on offer.
DEWA and Huawei hold strategic summit
The Emirati utility and the Chinese communications giant and inverter maker have discussed how they can work together to roll out solar and storage in Dubai as well as collaborating on cyber security and the use of AI to analyze cyber threats.
DEWA to use solar to power new pumped-storage project
The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority will use energy from the gigawatt-scale Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to provide a new hydropower plant with pumped storage capacity. The state-owned utility has announced a number of innovations for the project in recent months, including plans for hydrogen and large-scale storage capacity.
