Dubai Launches 1,000-Megawatt Solar Park Project

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A $3.3 billion solar park project has been launched in Dubai. It is scheduled to have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) when it is completed in 2030.

The Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will be located on a 48-square-kilometer area in Seih Al Dahal near the Dubai-Al Ain road and will use photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies to generate electrical power.

Dubai's Supreme Council of Energy (SCE) will implement the project, which will be managed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa). In the first phase of the project, $33 million will be invested to build an installation to produce 10 MW of power.

Bids for the engineering consultancy service for the first 10-MW phase are currently being evaluated. Tenders for project developers are expected to open in June. Saeed Al Tayer, vice chairman of SCE and managing director and CEO of Dewa, said that the solar energy in Dubai's energy portfolio would be in two forms : solar generators installed by clients on rooftops and ground-mounted plants.

He said that although the private sector was prepared to invest in solar energy projects, the first phase would be funded 100% by the SCE. He added that the first phase of the project will be developed over a period of 21 months to the operation and generation stage, following the appointment of a consultant.

The solar park project is part of Dubai's strategy to diversify the energy mix and reduce dependence on oil and gas. Dewa has an installed generating capacity of 7,361 MW, all of which is oil- or gas-fired. Peak demand is currently well below 6,000 MW. Currently, only 4.5 MW of power is generated from solar sources in Dubai.

Under the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy, the government plans to diversify energy sources and targets 1% of power supply from renewables by 2020 and 5% by 2030. Overall, the United Arab Emirates has set a target of obtaining 7% of its energy from renewable sourcs by 2020.

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