Yemen

The Yemeni government and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) are now accepting proposals from developers for four solar projects, ranging from street lighting to a 300 kW array.

Masdar has signed a joint cooperation agreement with Yemen’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy to build a 120 MW solar plant in Aden. It will be the country’s first large-scale renewable energy project.

The latest set of clean energy statistics compiled by the International Renewable Energy Agency signal a changing of the guard when it comes to clean power, with legacy hydropower facilities overtaken by new intermittent renewables.

The region’s climate, developing economies and demographic growth are driving increased electricity demand in the Middle East and North Africa. However, as a hub of conventional energy supply, the region has been slow to embrace PV. To capture more of the value chain and deliver the full potential of solar, there are increasing calls for distributed generation deployment to play a bigger role.

Solar energy is expanding at a fast pace in the Middle East, including in Yemen, a country which has been plagued by conflict since 2015. Now the United Nations International Development Association (IDA) is injecting another US$50 million to provide urban communities with solar power.

The disrupture of the country’s power system, which is being caused by the ongoing civil conflicts, is pushing Yemenis to resort to solar as a primary source of energy. According to preliminary estimates, more than 300 MW of PV power generators were installed in Yemen since the war began in 2015.