Volatility in the price of fossil-fuel-based energy has led to greater interest in renewable energy by North African governments, a webinar on the region's solar outlook has heard. "If we look at global energy markets, we can see how oil and gas prices fluctuate and go," Ashraf Kraidy, director of planning and technology programs at the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE), said at a recent online event. Up. This provides investment opportunities for renewable energy. Renewable energy investment has stable prices in terms of electricity production.”

Kraidy, representing the non-profit organization founded in 2008 to promote clean energy and energy efficiency across the Arab world, pointed to recent climate change targets set by the governments of Egypt and Morocco, with the former targeting 42% of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2035 energy, will reach 52% by 2040. With the event focused on the prospects of the solar industry in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, Kraidy said most governments in the region are turning to auction tenders to determine the level of subsidies paid for clean electricity generation.

Utility-scale solar power plants dominate the regional PV market, the RCREEE representative said, stressing the need for smaller rooftop arrays in North Africa. Egypt dominates the solar industry in the region, generating 1.6GW, twice Morocco’s installed capacity, Algeria has around 500MW, Tunisia 200MW and Libya just 20MW.

Those numbers are likely to rise in response to growing demand and strong interest from investors, including donor entities, Kraidy said. "We can see investment opportunities in the region, and many donors are willing to support the development of renewable energy," Clyde said. “Various financing instruments have been announced and prices are competitive. Governments in the region have policies to promote investment growth. We are witnessing massive investment and multinational companies landing in the renewable energy sector in North Africa, with solar at the top of the list.” Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

However, as Fahmi Chine, North Africa sales manager for Chinese solar manufacturer JA Solar, points out, hurdles remain. With political instability and conflict between traditional state-owned utilities and independent power producers hampering some investors, Chine noted that regulators could help address some of the region's problems. The online event was held in partnership with Chinese inverter manufacturer Solis.Editor/XingWentao