The Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) of Afghanistan has awarded 50 MW of solar hybrid projects to be developed in the country in two separate orders.

The MEW has awarded the contract to develop a 40 MW solar hybrid project at the Hisar-e-Shahi Industrial Park in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. The Shuangdeng Group of China, a green energy storage solutions provider, has won the contract valued at $59.7 million.

The MEW has also issued an award notification regarding a 10 MW solar hybrid project to be developed in the country. The MEW has considered Waaree Energies of India for the implementation of the 10 MW solar hybrid project in Khost province of Afghanistan.

The local contractors or agencies have time up to May 27, 2018 to object to the award of 10 MW contract to Waaree Energies. If no objection is received by the MEW, the contract will then be awarded to Waaree Energies.

Afghanistan, like various other countries in the Asian continent, is turning to solar to meet its increasing energy needs and to transition from fossil-fuel based generation to clean energy.

Recently, the national power utility of Afghanistan, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), entered into power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the purchase of power from two grid-connected solar PV projects. The two solar projects have a capacity of 15 MW each.

Afghanistan’s renewable energy resource potential is estimated to be more than 300,000 MW. More than two-thirds of that is attributable to solar, with the country benefiting from about 300 sunny days in a year.

Image credit: By PavelD [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons