Africa & Middle East

The West Bank city of Jericho is using a 710kW solar power plant to generate renewable energy for Jerusalem's Palestinian population.

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved two loans, totaling €176 million (US$216 million) for the second phase of the Ouarzazate solar project in Morocco.

Italian specialist solar cell manufacturer, MegaCell, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Egyptian investment firm, Misr Asset Management, to seek investors to build and operate a 120MW solar cell and module assembly plant in Egypt using its n-type monocrystalline bi-facial cell technology.

Global energy developer New Generation Power (NGP) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government of Nigeria to deliver 1,200MW of utility-scale photovoltaic projects within the West African country.

Namibia in southern Africa is expected to see its first large-scale PV plant come online early next year following a ground-breaking ceremony last week.

The Wold Bank has commissioned the first of many data stations measuring renewable energy potential around the globe in an effort to open up new markets.

Jasper, at 96MWp the largest PV power plant in South Africa, has been completed.

Chang Zhou Almaden a major PV glass manufacturer in China is establishing a new manufacturing plant in Dubai to produce 400,000 PV glass substrates per annum.

REC Silicon is to expand polysilicon production at its Moses Lake facility and silane production at its Butte facility, while restarting Silane I production. The company is also undertaking a feasibility study to establish a 20,000MT joint venture polysilicon plant in Saudi Arabia with IDEA Polysilicon.

US PV energy provider, SunPower, has said it will own and operate a new module assembly plant in South Africa to produce its E20/440 high-efficiency PV panels.