The Government of Sudan has reportedly signed a new MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi Fund to build solar power firms having a capacity of 500 MW. Khairy Abdul Rahmanhas, Minister of Energy and Mining, Sudan, and Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, General Director, Abu Dhabi Fund signed the MoU .

ADFD (Abu Dhabi Fund for Development), an autonomous national entity that comes under the Abu Dhabi government, helps developing economies achieve proficient socio-economic growth by providing financial assistance in the form of managing government grants, concessionary loans, and equities.

As per the agreement, the Sudanese government has pledged to purchase the energy generated by these facilities at a competitive price for a span of 20 years.

The power plants, whose size and numbers have yet to be announced, would be constructed by yet unnamed UAE-based energy firms. If the projects are implemented, they would be marking Sudan’s first attempt at installing a utility-scale solar capacity.

When it comes to solar capacities, Sudan is considered to have one of the lowest levels of development in the region despite the fact that it experiences one of the world’s highest levels of solar radiation, surpassing 2000 kWh/m2 per annum. Hydropower still tops the nation’s power supply industry with an immense share of 70%.

Meanwhile, solar energy comes at the last position of the list, covering less than 0.1% share in spite of the numerous government efforts to boost the share of renewables in the nation’s energy mix over the past years.

As per the latest data retrieved from the IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency), the country had merely 19 MW of installed solar power capacity at the end of 2019. Now, Sudan’s government is aiming to install 300 MW of wind energy as well as 500 MW of solar energy by the end of 2020.

Source credit: http://www.pumps-africa.com/sudan-signs-mou-for-construction-of-500-mw-of-solar-power-firms/