ACWA

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has indicated that parts of the concentrating solar power element of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park could be running more than four months behind schedule, as well as a 3 MW slice of the promised solar panel capacity.

Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, present at the signing of a power supply deal related to the 700MW Ar Rass solar project, said the kingdom is planning a massive renewables drive by the end of next year, according to energy company and Ar Rass developer Acwa Power.

Solar manufacturer Jolywood, which supplied almost 500 MW of its bifacial tunnel oxide passivated contact panels for Oman’s Ibri II facility, has claimed the power plant is the biggest to date to deploy the high-efficiency technology.

The $156.4 million Kom Ombo photovoltaic solar power plant is being developed by Saudi energy giant ACWA Power.

The Norwegian PV developer was allocated three of the five projects available in the procurement exercise, having reportedly offered to accept $0.025/kWh from utility Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz for the clean power produced by the largest, 200 MW slice of generation capacity available.

The capacity is made up of two 50 MW projects, one of which made the deadline to connect before Sunday and benefit from Vietnam’s generous feed-in tariff. Though the fixed payment has now expired, the market could continue to develop thanks to high energy demand and excellent irradiation.

Cracking the two-cent-mark as a global standard for PV appears within sight as projects in the U.S. and Brazil have been signed below that threshold. Just two years ago the industry celebrated sub-three-cent bids in the MENA region. Prices have come down so quickly, however, the new records are another third cheaper.

The Chinese state-owned infrastructure investment fund, which already has strong ties to the Saudi power company, will be a major shareholder in a Middle East and African clean energy portfolio that adds up to 1668 MW of generation capacity.

The grouping, which includes UAE-based Masdar and Moroccan independent power producer Green of Africa, is planning to begin construction this year. The project is among those realized by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy, as part of the Noor Solar Plan to develop a minimum 2 GW of capacity by next year.

The Saudi energy company and Chinese inverter maker and comms firm will team up to use information and communications technology to improve the performance of the former’s PV plants.