UAE awards contract for huge 1.8GW solar park addition at record low prices

The United Arab Emirates government owned renewable energy company Masdar has been awarded the contract to build the 1.8GW sixth phase of the mammoth Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) awarded the contract to Masdar over the weekend as the preferred bidder with the lowest bid of $US16.24/MWh. This marks the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCoE) for any of DEWA’s solar projects under its independent power producer (IPP) model.

By 2030, DEWA expects that the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will boast total capacity of 5GW. Currently, total capacity of 2,427MW has been commissioned, with completion of the sixth phase to increase total capacity to 4,660MW.

The solar park – located around 50km south of the city and emirate of Dubai in the UAE – is an integral part of the larger Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.

According to DEWA, the share of clean energy in Dubai’s energy mix sits around the 16.3% mark of total installed capacity and is expected to increase to 24% by 2026 with completion of the sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

News of the next phase of the world’s largest solar park comes just over a month after the UAE – the much-criticised host of the next COP28 climate talks – announced it will triple its renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade in a $US54 billion investment plan that will also target green hydrogen production.

That project will include lifting renewable energy capacity to 14.2GW by 2030.