Construction Starts On Hydrogen Facility In Dubai

• A solar powered hydrogen electrolysis facility has entered construction in Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park
• This pilot project will be located at the outdoor testing facilities in the Research and Development (R&D) Center at the park
• Siemens and Expo 2020 Dubai are working with DEWA to realize this project, power generated from which will be stored and deployed for re-electrification, transportation and other uses

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) broke ground for a pilot project of producing hydrogen using solar power at its outdoor testing facilities in the Research and Development Center at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. It calls this as the first solar-driven hydrogen electrolysis facility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Hydrogen produced at the facility will be stored and deployed for re-electrification, transportation and other uses, said DEWA MD and CEO Mohammed Al Tayer. DEWA said live data of the green hydrogen electrolysis will be displayed at Expo 2020 Dubai.

DEWA is implementing the project along with Siemens and Expo 2020 Dubai. The world expo, opening in Dubai on October 20, 2020, will focus on sustainability, mobility and opportunity. The official statement from DEWA didn't share the capacity of this hydrogen facility, but in February 2018 it had announced the facility will aim to test and showcase an integrated MW-scale plant to produce hydrogen using PV power at the solar park (see Dubai Looking At PV For Hydrogen Electrolysis).

5 GW solar park progress

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will have 1 GW of operational solar power capacity by 2020, and will be scaled up to a cumulative of 5 GW by 2030, with an investment of AED 50 billion ($13.6 billion).

In Phase I, 13 MW solar power capacity came online in October 2013, followed by 200 MW in March 2017 under Phase II (see DEWA Commissions 200 MW Ahead Of Schedule). A consortium led by Masdar is working now on a 800 MW project under Phase III, of which 200 MW was switched on in May 2018 (see 200 MW Connected To Grid In Dubai). The remaining capacity of this 800 MW will come online in 2019 and 2020 in a second and third stage, respectively.

Next to PV, a 700 MW CSP project is being constructed under Phase IV and is scheduled to be commissioned in Q4/2020.

In mid-2018, DEWA launched a tender looking to secure independent power producer (IPP) advisory services for a solar PV power plant under Phase V of the planned 5 GW (see Dubai Seeking IPP Advisory For Solar Park).