Solar power offers a ray of hope in Middle East’s least electrified country

ADEN, Yemen, Sept 30: Yemen’s first large-scale solar plant is helping to alleviate electricity shortages in the southern port city of Aden, bringing some relief to residents and businesses which suffer losses particularly when the intense summer heat hits.

Funded by neighbouring United Arab Emirates and operational since July 2024, the Aden Solar Power Plant marks a significant shift towards renewable energy in a country the International Energy Agency lists as the Middle East’s least electrified.

Yemen has been grappling with almost 30 years of electricity crisis due to fuel shortages and a war that caused severe damage to the national power infrastructure.

Located north of Aden – the interim seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government – the 120-megawatt plant supplies electricity to between 150,000 and 170,000 homes daily, according to Sabri al-Maamari, a technician at the plant.

“Power outages used to cause damage to goods, and when we returned the damaged items to the suppliers, they would not accept them, leaving us, the merchants, to bear the loss,” said Mubarak Qaid, who operates a supermarket in the city.

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While solar power represented only 10.4% of Yemen’s total electricity generation in 2023, according to the IEA, this is expected to rise with a second phase of the Aden Solar Power Plant planned for 2026 to double its capacity.