Israeli solar power technology to light up Ethiopia

Ethiopia is aiming to enhance access to affordable and environmentally-friendly renewable energy for its population, with the country’s Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy announcing that it had signed an agreement with an Israeli solar-hybrid power company to further this goal. The leading Israeli developer of solar-biogas hybrid power technology, AORA, will be the first to provide solar-biogas hybrid power solutions for rural communities in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia often suffers from blackouts due to its lack of power and two-thirds of the country’s citizens have no electricity.

Affordable access to power will have significant social and economic impact on off-grid communities, helping to provide power to schools and medical facilities, refrigeration for food processing and post-harvest storage, groundwater pumping and much more.

AORA’s technology runs not only on solar radiation, but also on almost any gaseous or liquid fuel, including biogas, biodiesel and natural gas. This enables a variety of operational modes – from solar-only mode, where electricity is supplied from ample sunlight, to hybrid-mode when fuel helps generate full power during the periods of insufficient sunlight. At night time or during days of heavy overcast, the fuel-only mode goes into operation. This guarantees an uninterrupted and stable power supply 24 hours a day in all weather conditions.

The AORA tulip-shaped solar power plant, whose technology was developed by the Weizmann Institute, requires less land to generate usable power and heat than other systems as well as less water. Each Tulip station is small and modular, and adaptable to topography.

Construction of the first pilot plant in Ethiopia is expected to begin by mid-2015. Following the trial, the Ethiopian government intends to expand deployment of AORA installations for rural economic development to off-grid communities in selected areas of the country.

Source: Ynetnews