UAE ON TRACK FOR ITS BIGGEST SOLAR PARK WITH NEXT 800 MW PHASE
The Climate Group, April 28, 2015. Image credit: PublicDomainPictures
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has moved ahead with the third planned phase of Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, with an additional capacity of 800 megawatts.
FAMOUS SOLAR PARK
The Dubai solar park first made headlines last year when auctions for its second phase tender to Saudi Arabian company ACWA Power were provided at 5.85 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is the lowest solar electricity price in history. Last month, Dubai also announced it would further double the Park’s capacity for this second phase from 100 to 200 megawatts.
Once complete in 2017, the Solar Park is hoped to have an installed capacity of 3 gigawatts – making it the UAE’s biggest utility-scale solar park – as well as be home to a renewable technology research and development center, which will further boost the city government’s plans to make Dubai a leading renewables hub. Dubai has already begun to show signs of its increased ambition with January’s announcement to double its renewable energy targets to 15% by 2030.