The UAE and Jordan kick off solar projects: The Emirates and Jordan have both made strides in the solar section this week. UAE renewables developer Amea Power signed a power purchase agreement with Djibouti’s national utility company Electricité de Djibouti to develop a 25 MW solar and battery project located south of the country’s capital, according to a statement. The will supply 55 GWh of clean energy annually and the Sovereign Fund of Djibouti will be a minority shareholder in the project. Under the agreement, Amea will commit to supplying electricity from the solar farm to Electricité de Djibouti for 25 years.

AMEA Power has been looking to Africa for investments: Amea Power will build a USD 120 mn, 120 MW solar energy plant in South Africa, a 560 MW solar plant and 505 MW wind farm in Egypt, and a new 50 MW solar power plant in Ivory Coast. Amea Power has solar projects in Burkina Faso and Mali. It also added 20 MW of capacity to its existing solar project in Togo reaching a generation capacity of 70 MW last November.

Over in MENA, Jordan launched operations for a 24 MW solar farm which will power the capital’s Disi Water Conveyance Project in Amman, Al Mamlakah reports. The solar farm — developed by China’s Sepco under a USD EUR 30 mn loan by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development — marks the first solar-powered water pumping project in the kingdom. The plant is expected to produce up to 79 MWh of clean energy in the first year of operations and pump 100 mn cubic meters of water annually from the Disi aquifer beneath the desert in southern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Oman welcomes new tyre recycling plant: Oman’s International Recycling Company inaugurated a new tyre recycling facility worth OMR 1.3 mn (c. USD 3.4) in Al Batinah North Governorate, Oman News Agency reports. The facility will have a production capacity of processing 6k metric tons of discarded tyres annually, according to company officials. The factory has been equipped with the latest technologies to minimize waste, preserve resources and limit tyres’ negative environmental impact.

Some are seeing potential in tyres recycling in Oman: India’s top tyre recycling Tinna Rubber recently announced it is acquiring a majority stake in an Oman based tyre recycling operation. The new Oman subsidiary— which will operate as Global Recycle— would see a pilot project capacity of 10k metric tons of tyres annually. Separately, a pact was signed last year between Sur Industrial City and Al Fairouz Projects and Investments, to set up a project turning used automotive tyres into rubber power for biofuel production and others.

China and MENA partner to combat desertification: China and the Arab League across MENA signed an agreement to establish a research center with the purpose of tackling drought and desertification across MENA, Chinese news outlet Global Times reports. The China-Arab International Research Centre for Drought, Desertification, and Land Degradation will leverage Chinese tech and know-how to greenify GCC countries and launch reforestation programmes to support the kingdom’s target to plant 10 bn trees under its Saudi Green Initiative. China — which has 25% of its landmass covered in desert — has launched major reforestation campaigns over the past 40 years, and plans to plant and conserve 70 bn trees by 2030.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • Skytower is building a zero carbon industrial park in KSA: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) signed a strategic partnership agreement with Skytower to develop a Zero Carbon Industrial Park. KAEC plans to host an EV production plant for local EV manufacturer Ceer.
  • A boost for Jordanian green mobility: The government of Jordan has approved 3k requests to install residential EV chargers for households across the country. (Al Mamlakah)
Tags: