Largest Ground Mount Private Solar Plant In UAE

• Nestlé has achieved grid connection for solar power plant capacity it has installed for its three manufacturing sites in the UAE under Shams Dubai program
• With Al Maha location having 20,000 solar panels deployed, together all three projects have close to 28,000 panels installed, capable of generating 10 GWh of clean power annually
• For Shams Dubai program of the government, this adds up to a total of 117 MW grid connected with 1,348 solar systems deployed

Swiss food and beverage company Nestlé has got what Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) calls the 'largest ground-mounted private solar plant' in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its in-country operations. In December 2017, Nestlé contracted Yellow Door Energy and ALEC Energy to deploy the rooftop solar panels for its three manufacturing plants under the Shams Dubai program (see 7 MW PV Power For Nestlé In Dubai).

Installed in the form of three solar power plants for the company's three manufacturing sites with a total of some 28,000 PV panels, the cumulative capacity can generate 10 GWh of clean power annually. The largest site at Al Maha alone has 20,000 PV panels capable of producing 7.2 GWh of energy annually. All the projects are connected to DEWA's grid.

Nestlé says it has 413 factories around the globe one third out of which use 100% renewable electricity.

Shams Dubai introduced in 2014 is an initiative to install rooftop solar panels on every roof and connect these to DEWA's grid by 2030.

At the inauguration ceremony, DEWA's Managing Director and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer shared that since 2014 when Shams Dubai program was launched, it has been able to register 1,348 solar systems that are now connected to the grid representing a total capacity of 117 MW. On September 13, 2019, DEWA said 1,338 solar systems had been grid connected under Shams Dubai with a total capacity of 106 MW, which means within 11 days 11 MW came online.