UAE makes another $50m in RE loans available
The seventh round of funding under the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development program takes to US$350 million the amount pumped into clean energy as part of state-run energy transition strategies in the developing world.
Dubai: Tariff for large-scale PV hits new low at $0.024/kWh
The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has announced it will expand Phase IV of the 5 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum Solar Park by another 250 MW. The power utility has also revealed that the PPA with the project developer, local energy giant ACWA Power has been amended, and that the new PV portion of Phase IV, which originally included only a 700 MW CSP power plant planned to sell power at $0.073/kWh, will sell power at a tariff of $0.024/kWh. This price equals that of a 1.17 GW solar project currently under construction in Abu Dhabi.
Oil company’s lubricant factory goes 100% solar in Dubai
Dubai’s ENOC announced it has completed the construction of a rooftop solar array on its lubricants manufacturing plant in Dubai. The array can cover the complete power demand of the factory. This is not the first time the oil company has turned its head towards solar PV to power its facilities. Already nine petrol stations are equipped with solar canopies for 100% green energy supply, with the company vowing to equip all future petrol stations with such canopies.
Dubai’s DEWA wants hydrogen at its 1 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park
The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has issued a tender for the construction of a hydrogen plant and associated facilities at the huge solar complex. In June, a pilot storage project based on NGK’s NAS Batteries was also launched at the facility.
SirajPower develops 50 MW under DEWA’s Shams Dubai initiative
The UAE-based solar company has signed a 15 year lease for a 1.8 MW rooftop project on two warehouses of Apparel Group, a global fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate.
Solar manufacturing in the Arab region remains difficult, IRENA says
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.
PERC market to reach 158 GW by 2022
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.
UAE uses AI to map its solar potential
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.
Big steel goes big solar in the US
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.
Requests to access solar net-metering in Dubai reach 323 MW
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.
