Africa & Middle East

KRAFTWERK Renewable Power Solutions will open an office in Egypt after securing the development contract for a 50MW plant in the country.

Renewables with energy storage can help build low carbon energy networks in the developing world – but the twin technologies still face competition from natural gas while they gradually mature, according to an electric power systems maker and integrator.

Bosses of companies including HSBC Holdings, Microsoft, Nestlé, Dow Chemical Company have signed an open letter urging for action on climate change.

Investment in clean energy surged in emerging economies during 2014, the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Climatescope report has found.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) are seeking applications to fund renewable energy projects in developing countries through concessionary loans.

Negotiators are facing calls to reach a swift resolution to ongoing talks aimed at establishing a new global trade agreement for environmental goods such as solar cells and modules.

Updated: Major PV energy provider SunPower is to ramp Cogenra Solar’s module technology to 2GW by 2020 and only a further 800MW of its ‘Maxeon’ solar cell technology at its new facility, Fab 5 that it expects to ramp in early 2019.

Developer Access Infra Africa and asset management firm Quaint Global Energy Solutions are to co-invest in a 50MW PV project in Nigeria.

The International Energy Agency has heralded the beginnings of a global shift to low carbon energy sources, but reiterated earlier calls for bolder action in the pending COP21 climate talks in Paris.

Market research firm IHS has forecasted a slowdown in global solar PV demand growth in 2016 but the market is expected to reach around 65.5GW, compared to 58.7GW forecasted for 2015.