Abu Dhabi

ChatGPT generated image of Masdar City’s streetscape where district cooling and architectural design reduce heat stress in one of the hottest regions on Earth

Underground Heat, Urban Cool: The Physics & Promise of Geothermal Cooling

Cooling in the Persian Gulf is one of the hardest energy challenges anywhere on the planet. Air conditioning is not a luxury in the United Arab Emirates but a necessity, and it consumes as much as 70% of the country’s electricity. That reality has made Masdar City, the experimental urban … [continued]

1.35 Cents/kWh: Record Abu Dhabi Solar Bid Is A Sober Reminder To Upbeat Fossil Fuel…

A rather meaningful piece of energy news went almost unnoticed in recent weeks. The Abu Dhabi Power Corporation announced the lowest tariff for solar energy in the world. The new record came as the winning bid for the upcoming 2 GW solar power plant, the Al Dhafra Solar PV project, set the world’s most cost-competitive tariff for solar PV energy, at USD 1.35 cents/kWh.

Solar farm in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Image Credit: Marika Shahan / CleanTechnica

Abu Dhabi To Have Cheapest Solar Power Ever — 1.35 Cents Per Kilowatt-Hour

The UAE’s other major city, Dubai, set the low-solar-PV-price record in January 2015 at what was then a shocking 5.98¢/kWh, then did so again in 2016 at 2.99¢/kWh. Dubai also set a low-price record for concentrated solar power (CSP), at just 7.3¢/kWh. The new low-PV bid chosen by Abu Dhabi’s public electric utility will bring down the cost of solar power to just 1.35¢/kWh.