Egypt

The world had more than half a terawatt of PV generation capacity at the end of last year as emerging solar markets picked up the slack caused by Beijing’s subsidy about-turn to the tune of a 20% rise in installations outside China.

Things are hotting up in the tracker world as the desire to squeeze down the price per Watt of solar power intensifies. And the rise of the trackers is attracting some well-known businesses to buy their way into the field.

The association that represents developers operating at the 1,465 MW solar project in Egypt – due for completion in June – say they have been told nothing about a rumored rise in investment costs caused by more expensive construction materials.

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.

Two Emirati developers are celebrating landmark deals with a commercial and industrial focus as Yellow Door Energy secures $65 million to expand operations into new markets and Adenium – one of Yellow Door’s backers – prepares to operate the region’s first industrial self-consumption and net metering project.

The 30 MW plant was developed by a consortium led by Infinity Solar Energy SAE – an Egyptian developer operating in Africa and the Middle East – with Germay’s ib vogt, investment vehicle MMID and private equity firm BPE Partners.

Alcazar Energy has announced the start of commercial operation for a project at Benban, in Egypt. Alcazar says it is the first of more than 30 planned projects in the second round of the mammoth solar park to achieve grid connection, and one of four similar sized projects the company is working on at the site.

The global market stagnated last year, with around 98 GW deployed. For 2019, the experts expect stronger solar growth, provided there are no setbacks in China.

The 25-year agreement relates to a 6 MW solar plant that will meet up to 4% of the electricity demand of a facility owned by the Arabian Cement Company, in Egypt’s Suez governorate. The project is being financed by local bank QNB AlAhli under the EBRD’s Green Economy Program.

The Saudi developer is reportedly suffering fines of $700/MW/day for late delivery of a project at the Benban solar complex in Egypt as 180 MW of plants near completion.