The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced the inauguration of the 200 MW second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The project has been developed by a consortium led by ACWA Power of Saudi Arabia and Spanish contractor TSK. This capacity was supposed to come online by April 2017.
It came online with an investment of AED 1.2 billion ($326.7 million). Tender to develop this capacity was awarded to ACWA-TSK consortium for $0.0584 cents per kWh.
Around 2.3 million PV panels from First Solar have been used for this plant. The energy generated will serve around 50,000 households.
The first phase of the park saw 13 MW capacity commissioned in October 2013. The second phase of 200 MW capacity has now been commissioned. The third phase of the park, with 800 MW capacity, is schedule to come online in 2020, to coincide with the World Expo 2020 to be held in Dubai.
The park was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai. "Under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ACWA Power is proud to have safely completed well ahead of the schedule the largest PV plant in the region within the second phase of the leading project of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park," said Chairman of ACWA Power, Mohammad Abunayyan.
In June 2016, DEWA awarded a contract to develop the 800 MW third phase of the park to a consortium led by Masdar for $0.0395 per kWh (see DEWA Selects Masdar Consortium). The module supplier for this project has not yet been officially announced.
Under the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, the emirate is aiming to generate 7% of its total power output from clean energy by 2020 and scale it up to 25% by 2030, eventually take it to 75% by 2050. As the largest single-site solar parks globally, it will have solar power capacity of 1,000 MW by 2020 and then increase it to 5,000 MW by 2030. Total costs are estimated to reach around AED 50 billion ($13.6 billion).