Dubai expands mega solar project at “record” low price

The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority has announced it will not only expand the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to 950MW, but that it will also sell power at a world-record low of $US0.024/kWh.

DEWA signed an amendment to the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power for the fourth phase of the already impressive Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Set to boast 1 GW by 2020 and 5 GW by 2030, the project is being built in phases, and the revised PPA signed last week will see the fourth phase increase from 750 MW to 900 MW at a cost of 2.4 US cents per kilowatt-hour ($US24/MWH).

The fourth phase will be made up of 700 MW worth of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) – the world’s largest CSP project on a single site and boasting the world’s lowest Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of USD 7.3 US cents per kilowatt hour ($0.073/kWh) – and the newly-added 250 MW worth of solar PV panels at $0.024/kWh.

“The capacity expansion of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park’s further consolidates the UAE’s leadership in the field of sustainable development and provides another impetus to our clean energy strategy,” said Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

“The UAE’s leaders accord this sector high priority in their vision for the nation’s future. Furthermore, being at the forefront of technological advancement in this sector is critical to Dubai’s aspiration of becoming one of the leading cities of the world. We see this project being a unique model for large clean energy projects elsewhere in the world.

This ambitious initiative also adds a new facet to our cooperation with two of our strongest partners, Saudi Arabia and China. The project brings together a distinctive combination of advanced knowledge and expertise to create the largest single-site solar park in the world.”

The fourth phase will boast the world’s tallest solar tower, measuring in at 260 metres, and the world’s largest thermal energy storage capacity, with 15 hours of storage which will help the project generate round the clock.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is held up as one of the “most important” projects supporting the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 – which aimsto move Dubai to producing 75% of its energy requirements from clean energy sources by 2050.

So far the project is worth AED 50 billion ($18.82 billion) worth of investments and boasts the already operational 13 MW solar PV first phase and 200 MW solar PV second phase, and the 800 MW solar PV third phase which will be operational by 2020.