Dubai is firmly committed to renewable energy. It plans for 7% of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, 25% by 2030, and 75% by 2050. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced this week that it has awarded a contract to build the world’s largest concentrated solar power facility in the country.
The winning bid comes from a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Shanghai Electric, Arab News reports. It came in at 7.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, the lowest price ever for a CSP power plant. The facility will generate 700 megawatts of power and cost about $4 billion to construct. Its central tower — the heart of any CSP facility — will be the tallest in the world at 260 meters.
“Our focus on renewable energy generation has led to a drop in prices worldwide and has lowered the price of solar power bids in Europe and the Middle East. This was evident today when we received the lowest CSP project cost in the world,” said Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, the chief executive of DEWA.
“The implementation of the world’s largest concentrated solar energy project underlines the United Arab Emirate’s leadership on the world stage in producing clean and renewable energy and reinforces our position at the forefront of the most advanced countries in this field,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai. “We are implementing projects that translate the overall development directions in our country and support the ambitious goals that we set for the future and started implementing it today.”
The facility will be the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site concentrated solar power plant in the world. Dubai and its partners in the United Arab Emirates are some of the most oil-rich locations on earth, yet they have made an ambitious goal to direct their economies away from fossil fuels. Thanks to its location, the UAE has even more solar power potential than it has oil reserves.
For more details, see: “Dubai Awards 700 Megawatt Solar CSP Contract For Mammoth Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.”
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