Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced the opening of the Noor Energy 1 Visitors Centre within Phase Four of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

 

This 950MW phase has investments totalling AED15.78 billion ($4.3 billion) based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model.

 

A consortium led by Dewa and Saudi-based Acwa Power, a leader in power generation and water desalination plants, formed a project company, Noor Energy 1, to design, build, and operate the plant. 

 

In this, Dewa owns a 51% stake, while Acwa Power has 25% and the Silk Road Fund the rest of the 24% stake.

 

Phase Four will use 700MW of CSP (600MW from a parabolic basin complex and 100MW from the solar power tower) and 250MW from photovoltaic solar panels.

 

Once completed, the project will have the largest thermal storage capacity in the world of 15 hours, allowing for energy availability round the clock. In addition, it will provide clean energy for around 320,000 residences and reduce 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

 

A key facility, Noor Energy 1 Visitors Centre, features an exhibition that chronicles the history of energy and future energy technologies. It displays the latest technologies in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), photovoltaic cells, and the future of green hydrogen. 

 

In addition, the exhibition uses Virtual Reality (VR) to tour the solar park to understand the projects and technologies used to produce energy.

 

Speaking at the opening, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa, said it had launched pioneering initiatives and projects to diversify clean energy sources. 

 

These include multiple clean and renewable energy sources and technologies such as solar photovoltaic solar panels (CSP), green hydrogen production using solar power, pumped-storage water technology using clean energy in Hatta, and research into electricity generation from wind power, he added.

 

Al Tayer pointed out that all of Dewa's strategies and plans were aimed at promoting sustainability, innovation and the shift towards a green sustainable economy. 

 

"Our projects at the solar park using the IPP model constitute one of the key pillars of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 per cent of energy from clean energy sources by 2050," stated Al Tayer in the presence of Acwa Power Chairman Mohammad Abunayyan and other officials from Dewa and Noor Energy 1.

 

Abunayyan said once Noor Energy 1 gets operational, it will be the largest single-site concentrated solar power plant in the world. 

 

"This experience centre will allow visitors to understand and witness this unique project from a technological and solutions perspective," he added.