DEWA has provided an update on the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which has been hailed as the largest single-site solar facility in the world. The company said this week that it has installed 270 MW of solar power since August, bringing the total solar capacity added this year to 300 MW as part of the fifth phase of a projected 5 GW facility that would be ready by 2030.
DEWA will control 60% of the AED 2.06 billion ($561 million) fifth phase of the facility near Dubai. Gulf Investment Corp., which is controlled by the governments of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, will own the remaining 80%. According to DEWA, the remaining 300 MW of the fifth phase of the project would be operational the following year. Currently, 600 MW of solar panels are generating energy at the site.
The fourth phase of the project, which consists of hybrid solar panels and concentrating solar panels, is also unfinished, and DEWA provided an update on its development as well. Approximately 217 MW of the 250 MW of phase-four capacity is currently operating, according to the company. Three 200 MW parabolic basins and a 100 MW solar tower will provide 15 hours of thermal storage capacity to finish the fourth phase of the project at a cost of AED 15.8 billion.
The concentrated solar portion of the fourth phase, which will be owned by DEWA, ACWA Power, and the China Silk Road Fund with a 24% interest, was initially scheduled to be operational in 2017. DEWA has not provided a completion date for this phase of the project.
Earlier in October, the utility delayed the bidding deadline for the next stage’s development. The bid deadline for the 900 MW sixth phase of the site has been extended to November 1 from October 10.
The following phase will begin generating power in the third quarter of 2025 and be completed in 2027, according to DEWA. It has now declared total project investments of AED 50 billion. This week, it was reported that the 1.83 GW of active solar power at the site is currently producing 12.1% of Dubai’s energy demands, with that percentage forecast to increase to 14% this year.
