Norway’s Scatec announced on 2 June the commercial operation of its second 65MW solar photovoltaic (PV) unit at the Benban solar park, which is being developed in the desert 40km north of Aswan in southern Egypt. Scatec says it now has 130MW of capacity grid-connected and operational at Benban and expects to have around 400MW online in six separate projects during the second half of 2019. The plants incorporate bi-facial panels, which capture sunlight from both sides to increase electricity output. Scatec started up output from ‘Scatec Benban I’ (also known as ‘Aswan’) in April (MEES, 12 April).
The firm does not indicate to which of its remaining five Benban projects the latest announcement refers but MEES analysis of satellite imagery indicates that both Scatec Benban III (Sun Infinity) and Scatec Benban VI (Philadelphia) completed panel installation during April. Of the remaining three Scatec plots, Scatec Benban V (Zafarana) completed installation in late May, Scatec Benban II (Kom Ombo) is near-complete, whilst the last plot Scatec Benban IV (Red Sea) saw the first panels laid last month. (CONTINUED - 210 WORDS)