United Arab Emirates

Emirates Water and Electricity Co. (EWEC) has started accepting expressions of interest for a 400 MW battery energy storage system (BESS). The chosen developer will enter into a long-term agreement with the Abu Dhabi-based utility as the sole procurer.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. (Masdar) have reached financial close on a 1.8 GW solar project – the sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the United Arab Emirates. Masdar was chosen to build and operate the project after submitting a bid of $0.016/kWh – the park’s lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) to date.

Scientists in the Middle East have simulated the use of different building-integrated PV systems on Dubai’s high-rise buildings. They found that for buildings with more than seven floors, BIPV may be superior to rooftop power generation.

Tripling clean energy generation capacity to 11 TW by 2030 was a leading pledge from the United Nations’ (UN) climate change conference in Dubai. With few details about infrastructure and energy storage and no clear PV targets, however, it is hard to judge the effectiveness of the 28th global Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting. Angela Skujins considers possible impacts for the solar industry.

Several companies have announced new hydrogen deals in Europe, as Germany moves forward on hydrogen collaboration with Australia and the United Arab Emirates. pv magazine also spoke with Thomas Hillig, managing director of THEnergy, about Europe’s electrolysis capacity.

Dubai-based Floating Man is currently negotiating contracts for the deployment of a novel floating structure for offshore solar. A 900 m2 system built with the floaters could support up to 200 solar panels.

Thresholding methods have commonly been used to characterize the soiling accumulated on glass coupons. Researchers led by the Sapienza University of Rome have identified 16 automatic thresholding methods that may be used for analyzing soiling on PV panels.

TAQA, an Abu Dhabi-based energy company, has signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the possibility of becoming a shareholder in the €1.9 billion ($3.08 billion) Greece and Cyprus high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity interconnection.

Masdar unveiled a 10 GW Africa Growth Plan for renewable investments in six Sub-Saharan Nations at COP28 in Dubai this week, in addition to signing four additional hydrogen deals.

A research group in South Africa has developed a novel method for PV output forecasting in commercial buildings. The proposed approach is purportedly able to accurately forecast the output power of a PV plant using real-time weather data.