World Bank invests US$5.5bn in MENA solar power

By Shane McGinley

The World Bank has announced plans to invest more than $5.5bn in solar energy projects in the Middle East and Africa.

The bank’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF) approved financing of $750m and plans to “mobilise an additional $4.85bn from other sources, to accelerate global deployment of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP),” the lender said in a statement.

The CSP investment will be in five countries in the Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia.

The eleven power plants are due to be operational in around three and half years.

Shamshad Akhtar, World Bank regional vice president of the Middle East and North Africa, said “This is a most strategic and significant initiative for MENA countries. The initiative would leverage energy diversification, while promoting Euro-Mediterranean integration to the benefit of MENA countries that will be able to exploit one of the major untapped sources of energy.”

The projects are expected to reduce green house gas emissions in the region by around 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Source: arabianbusiness.com