Africa & Middle East

Qatar will use the roofs of water reservoirs for solar energy generation Ahmed Nasser al-Nasser, technical affairs director of Kahramaa, Qatar’s general glectricity and water corporation told the Solar Qatar Summit on Monday.

The 75MW Kalkbult solar plant has become the first utility-scale PV project under South Africa’s renewable energy programme to begin generating power.

SunEdison has secured ZAR1.8 billion (US$185 million) in funding for a 60MW solar project in South Africa.

Total S.A. has become a preferred bidder in the third phase of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) to build an 86MWp PV power plant using SunPower’s ‘Oasis Power Blocks’ integrated system.

German state development bank KfW is to provide €654 million (US$900 million) for a Moroccan CSP project.

The requirement for local content in Saudi Arabia’s early solar power tenders could mean it misses out on global cost cuts, according to IHS.

Swaziland in southern Africa is line for a 100MW solar farm, according to local media reports.

High profile solar developments have taken place recently in Dubai, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as lofty ambitions begin to bear fruit.

Ingeteam’s South Africa subsidiary is to supply 78 of its inverters to the Sishen Solar facility in South Africa.

Electricity from solar power could be the cheapest in South Africa by 2020, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan.