MIDDLE EAST AFRICA
MIDDLE EAST AFRICA
In November 2015, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. In June 2016, His Highness witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding( MoU) with the Masdar-led consortium to implement the third phase of the solar park based on the IPP model. The MoU signing was attended by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, and HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. The 800MW third phase will be operational in 2020 to coincide with the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. DEWA also launched the largest Concentrated Solar Power( CSP) project in the world, based on the IPP model, with a planned capacity of 1,000 MW by 2030.
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park at Seih Al Dahal in early 2012. The first phase was successfully completed the next year, and is producing 13MW.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park includes a Creativity & Innovation Centre that will be equipped with the latest renewable and clean technologies to sharpen national capabilities, boost the competitiveness of business, develop new renewable energy technologies, support the overall regional advancement of the industry, and raise social awareness about renewable and sustainable energy.
The Research and Development Centre will conduct studies for industrial and social requirements, scientific research, link researchers, academics and developers, and devise strategies for innovative and productive ideas. It has two testing facilities, one for photovoltaic solar testing and the other for concentrated solar power( CSP). The centre is currently testing 30 modules of photovoltaic panels from global specialist manufacturers to check the properties, analyse the results, and use them in research and development. It collaborates with international organisations on soiling and dust mitigation on photovoltaic equipment. The tests are currently being performed to set a baseline for the development of specifications, tests and standards for photovoltaic equipment.
Source: Dewa
Kenya, World Bank Consider $ 150 Million Off-Grid Power Project
Kenya and the World Bank are in talks about financing a $ 150 million solarand-wind project in the country’ s remote, off-grid northeastern region.
“ We anticipate firm positions on where this project will be situated,” before inviting international bidders to tender, Ben Chumo, the managing director of electricity distributor Kenya Power Ltd., said in an interview Wednesday in the capital, Nairobi. The government of East Africa’ s biggest economy is building more power plants as it targets a tripling of capacity to 6,766 megawatts by 2020, from about 2,327 megawatts. Most of the new capacity will be from renewable sources including geothermal, according to the state-run Energy Regulatory Commission. Construction of the solar-and-wind project is expected to start by mid-2017, Chumo said. Electricity consumers in the remote northeastern region are currently served by diesel-fuel generation. Kenya Power, the nation’ s sole electricity distributor, plans to add 1.5 million new customers to its 5.4 million client base next year, taking the number of people connected to the national grid to 70 percent, from 62 percent, Chumo said.
Kenyan consumers pay an average of 18.7 U. S. cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with 9 cents in neighboring Tanzania and 3 cents in Ethiopia, African Development Bank data shows. An unreliable and expensive power supply is cited by business as a deterrent to investment in the $ 63.4 billion economy.
Source: bloomberg
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