Gulf Construction Online - Fifth phase of MBR Solar Park launched

UAE Focus

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tours the facility.

Fifth phase of MBR Solar Park launched

01 July 2023

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, last month inaugurated the 900 MW fifth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world with a planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030.

Involving a total investment of AED50 billion ($13.6 billion), based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, the solar park is expected to cut 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually when fully completed, reported Wam.

The fifth phase will provide clean energy to around 270,000 residences in Dubai, while reducing 1.18 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The AED2-billion project, implemented based on IPP model, is a partnership between Dewa (60 per cent) and a consortium led by Acwa Power and Gulf Investment Corporation (40 per cent) through Shuaa Energy 3.

Dewa achieved a world record by receiving the lowest bid of $1.6953 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the fifth phase.

The Dubai utility has implemented this phase using the latest solar photovoltaic bifacial technologies with single-axis tracking to increase energy production and the plant’s efficiency, it stated.

The total capacity of the solar energy projects commissioned at the solar park has reached 2,427MW from photovoltaic solar panels and concentrated solar power (CSP). The total capacity of the projects under construction at the solar park is 433MW from CSP. Dewa has increased the share of clean energy in Dubai’s energy mix to about 16.3 per cent of its total installed capacity, which has reached 14,917 MW, it added.

The total area of the fifth phase is approximately 10 sq km.