Dubai, UAE: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) on Thursday received two bids from ACWA Power and Masdar with the latter submitting the lowest bid of $1.62154 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the 1,800MW 6th phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.
The arrangement will be based on Independent Power Producer (IPP) model.
This phase will become operational in stages beginning Q4 of 2024.
“DEWA has broken its own record and achieved the lowest price (levelized cost) for PV solar power projects based on the IPP model in Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA. “DEWA has attracted huge investments to the UAE from the private sector and foreign banks, leading to increased cash flow to the economy of Dubai and the UAE.”
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world, Al Tayer added.
“Achieving the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, and Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050 requires an approximate capacity of 42,000MW of clean and renewable energy by 2050,” he said. “The current total production capacity of solar plants at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is 2,327 MW. Additionally, there are 533MW under construction at the Solar Park. Upon completing the 1,800MW 6th phase the solar park’s production capacity will reach 4,660MW.”
When completed, the solar park will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually, Al Tayer noted.