The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed an amendment that will see the total capacity of Phase Four of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park grow to 950MW.
According to a statement, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Acwa Power-led consortium now includes an additional 250MW of photovoltaic solar panels at a cost of 2.4 US cents per kilowatt hour – claimed to be the world’s lowest.
The agreement was signed by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and chief executive of DEWA and Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan, chairman of Acwa Power in the presence of Ishaq Al Hammadi, managing director at Acwa Power-UAE and Abdul Hamid Al Muhaidib, executive managing director of Noor Energy 1. Other senior DEWA officials were also present.
“The capacity expansion of the Al Maktoum Solar Park’s further consolidates the UAE’s leadership in the field of sustainable development and provides another impetus to our clean energy strategy,” said the Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Following the amendment, the total investment for the project is now said to be $4.4 billion. The move is part of DEWA’s efforts to achieve the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050.
“The UAE’s leaders accord this sector high priority in their vision for the nation’s future. Furthermore, being at the forefront of technological advancement in this sector is critical to Dubai’s aspiration of becoming one of the leading cities of the world. We see this project being a unique model for large clean energy projects elsewhere in the world. This ambitious initiative also adds a new facet to our cooperation with two of our strongest partners, Saudi Arabia and China. The project brings together a distinctive combination of advanced knowledge and expertise to create the largest single-site solar park in the world,” Sheikh Hamdan explained.
The project will use three technologies to produce clean energy: 600MW from a parabolic basin complex, 100MW from a solar tower and 250MW from photovoltaic panels.