Africa & Middle East

The West African island nation of Cape Verde will receive €55 million (US$75.5 million) of financing between 2014 and 2020 from the European Commission, to assist the development of renewable energy.

Israel’s development quota for PV projects has increased by 290MW, after quotas for concentrated solar power (CSP) and wind farm projects were shifted to solar PV.

SunEdison and the Government of Saudi Arabia are undertaking a feasibility study to establish a fully integrated PV manufacturing complex, including polysilicon production through to PV module assembly at an estimated cost of US$6.4 billion.

Plans to build a 150MW solar farm in Zimbabwe are nearing approval, according to the companies involved in its development.

Chinese manufacturer, Hanergy, could build a US$500 million thin-film PV factory in the Ivory Coast, according to the country’s government and a statement released by the company.

Wildly varying reports of Kenya’s plans for deploying solar energy have been dismissed by power industry and policy figures in the East African country.

Chinese PV manufacturer, ReneSola has announced the opening of a new office in Cape Town, South Africa.

JA Solar and Powerway have formed a joint venture to establish a PV module assembly plant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa with an initial nameplate capacity of 150MW.

The IFC, part of the World Bank, has signed an agreement with China’s Chint Group to develop solar farms and supply chains in emerging markets.

Phoenix Solar's Singapore-based subsidiary has been awarded the contract to build a 1MWp solar plant in Jordan, along with Jordanian company Mustakbal Clean Tech.