MENA

The private-sector arm of the World Bank, which claims to leverage $3 of its own capital and $8 from third parties for every dollar invested in its blended finance funds, has attempted to quantify what devoting Covid recovery funds to green investment would mean for emerging economies.

With the International Energy Agency publishing its latest five-year clean energy forecast today, pv magazine takes a look at the solar content of the 162-page document.

The government has announced a plan to deploy new PV capacity at a mega site over the next four years. Around 800 MW of capacity is expected to be tendered annually up to 2024. To be eligible, it is anticipated all modules, cables and mounting structures must have been made in Algeria.

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi energy company ACWA Power to conduct a feasibility study for an unspecified volume of renewables-powered desalination projects.

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.

Some of the world’s most cost-competitive solar arrays have been built among the rolling dunes of the vast Arabian Desert. While some government policies appear to be targeted at breaking records, nobody expects the oil-rich Gulf region to bring about truly sharp changes in pricing for solar PV plants.

The new concept of the Desertec initiative, which was presented at the Energy Transition in the Arab World Conference in Berlin last week, is still based on the idea that large-scale solar and wind energy can be developed and used in the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa. It also includes, however, that hydrogen and other synthetic emission-free energy carriers can also be developed throughout the region with clean energy and then exported to world markets.

All five offers received by the Tunisian government were under the three-cent threshold. The lowest bid was for a 200 MW solar plant Norwegian developer Scatec intends to build in the Tataouine province.

The Tunisian government awarded contracts for six 10 MW solar projects in the country’s second solar tender. The tender process was launched last August.

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.