Dewa advances fourth phase of $4.3bn Dubai solar park

Dewa

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has commissioned the 200 MW second unit of the parabolic basin complex in the fourth phase of the AED15.78 billion ($4.3 billion) Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.  

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and chief executive of Dewa, said in a statement the solar park’s production capacity would increase to 2,627MW.

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“The fourth phase of the solar park supports Dewa’s efforts to increase the share of renewable and clean energy and energy storage,” he added.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world, with a planned total capacity of 5,000MW by 2030. 

The 950MW fourth phase of Dewa’s project is the largest single-site project in the world that combines concentrated solar power and photovoltaic technologies.

Dewa and an Acwa Power-led consortium set up Noor Energy 1 as a project company to design, build and operate the fourth phase. 

The fourth phase uses three hybrid technologies to produce clean energy: 600MW from a parabolic basin complex (three units of 200MW each), 100MW from the world’s tallest solar power tower at 262.44 metres (based on molten dalt technology), and 250MW from photovoltaic solar panels. 

So far, 717MW have been commissioned from the fourth phase, which will have the largest thermal storage capacity in the world of 15 hours, allowing for solar energy availability round the clock. 

The fourth phase included the installation of more than 790,000 PV solar panels and more than 63,600 parabolic trough collectors. The project integrates 70,000 mirrors (heliostats) that track the sun’s movement.

The construction of the third unit of 200MW from the parabolic basin complex and 33 MW from photovoltaic solar panels are 87.1 percent complete.

Dewa is also implementing other energy storage projects, including the 250MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta, with a storage capacity of 1,500MW hours, and the green hydrogen project that produces and stores hydrogen using solar energy, Al Tayer said.