Solar power pursues to make inroads in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and other parts of the Persian Gulf region. The Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) in late September said it foresees at least $15 billion of solar power projects will enter operation in the region in the next five years.

Saudi Arabia earlier this year advanced to a second phase of its solar acquisition plan, opening bidding for seven projects totaling more than 1.5 GW of capacity. Oman has started the procurement process for the rollout of at least 1 GW of residential solar generation. Reports earlier this year said Algeria had announced tenders for 2 GW of solar generation.

Mina Mesbahi, a research analyst at Solarplaza International B.V., a Rotterdam, Netherlands-based group that organizes solar PV events worldwide, told the Saudi Gazette English-language newspaper that the UAE is the leading market with solar projects either operating or in development. “The top five markets in the MENA region with the largest operational and in-the-pipeline solar projects include the UAE [58%], Egypt [23%], Jordan [10%], and Morocco [6%],” along with Iran (3%). “Almost all the countries in this region experience an all year-round sunshine, giving breeding grounds for solar development. Accounting for almost 3 GW of operational capacity, solar seems to only loom large for MENA,” Mesbahi said.

The World Bank earlier this year said, “Primary energy demand in the [Middle East] region is supposed to continue to rise at an annual rate of 1.9 percent through 2035,” and several countries have commenced embracing solar and wind as a way to diversify their power generation mixes, which are highly dependent on natural gas and oil.

Saudi Arabia also is exporting its solar PV technology; Saudi-based ACWA Power in September was awarded a contract to develop two projects, with total generation capacity of 250 MW, in Ethiopia. Upendra Tripathy, head of the Delhi, India-based International Solar Alliance (ISA), a group of 122 “sun-rich” countries, welcomed Saudi Arabia as a member earlier this year, telling Arab News, “The decades of experience in energy policy, infrastructure, investment and financing that Saudi Arabia will bring on board will be especially valuable for ISA members. This will help member countries to promote solar-energy deployment and implement the Paris [climate] accord. As a prominent member of OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries], Saudi Arabia has always played a major role in global energy markets. The Saudi government is now sending a clear message to the global community that it can play a important role in the future of solar energy.”