Frost & Sullivan

Solar deployment continued to pick up in the Middle East and North Africa in 2019, the Middle East Solar Industry Association has said in its annual report.

Crossboundary Energy Access (CBEA) was established in January with large investment contributions from Rockefeller and Shell Foundations. The funding facility, which said it would work to unlock $11 billion in funding for the electrification of 100 million people in Africa, has penciled its first transaction with PowerGen Renewable Energy.

Globeleq bought the solar plants — which are part of a bigger portfolio that includes wind farms — from an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management. It said that in the coming weeks it will also reach financial close on another 66 MW solar installation, pushing the PV portion of the acquired portfolio up to 119 MW. It currently holds 238 MW of combined solar and wind capacity in South Africa.

A new report published by business consultants Frost & Sullivan expects around 90 GW of new solar installations by the end of 2018, in line with the predictions of other leading analysts. It further notes that PV remains the world leader in renewable energy capacity, and that markets are moving away from feed-in tariffs to make increasing use of auction models and private PPAs.

Analysts expect global renewable power investment to reach $243bn this year, with solar PV the fastest-growing segment and non-hydro renewables to account for 65% of all global power investment by 2020.

A new report published by market analysts Frost & Sullivan expects outlook for clean energy markets to remain positive in 2017, in the face of global uncertainty. The report also states that Asia will lead the economically driven expansion of clean and green energy technologies.