About 30,000 homes in Dubai will be powered by the sun starting April as the second phase of the emirate's major solar park is completed.
Eighty per cent of the construction has been finished at the 200 megawatts phase in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, the developers, Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and partner TSK of Spain, said yesterday. The electricity generated from this phase will also be used to power the World Expo 2020.
The Dh50 billion solar park is planned to generate 5,000MW by 2030, or enough electricity for 750,000 homes. Once the second phase is complete, the park will generate 213MW of solar PV power.
Construction of the 800MW third phase will soon be underway. There will also be an upcoming tender for the 200MW fourth phase using a different type of solar technology, concentrated solar power. By 2021, about 25 per cent of the park will be completed.
“All projects included in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park adhere to the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to transform Dubai into a global centre for clean energy and green economy,” Saeed Al Tayer, the managing director and chief executive of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, said in the statement. This strategy includes Dubai generating 7 per cent of its total power output from clean energy sources by 2020, 25 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by 2050.
This solar park has made headlines with its record-breaking low prices, which began with the Acwa Power-led second phase last year.
The 200MW project will generate power costing 5.84 US cents per kilowatt hour over the next 25 years, which was at the time the world’s cheapest price for solar power.
That price was nearly halved this summer by Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company, Masdar, and its Spanish partners, Fotowatio Renewable Ventures and Gransolar Group. The consortium submitted and won the third phase of the park for another world record breaking price of 2.99 US cents per kWh.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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