Construction has begun on the 700 MW fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which will consist of three 200 MW parabolic trough fields and a 100 MW tower.
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, broke ground at an official ceremony to mark the start of work on what will be the world’s largest single-site CSP plant.
The first three phases were built with PV technology.
Once complete in 2020, the fourth phase will feature the world’s largest solar tower (260m) and largest energy storage capacity (15 hours from the tower system, plus 11 hours from the parabolic trough system). It will provide clean energy to more than 270,000 households in Dubai, and will cover a total area of 43 square kilometres. The levelized cost of electricity will be $73/MWh.
Dubai has set out a strategy of having more than 42,000 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2050. The Al Maktoum Solar Park has a planned capacity of 5,000 MW of energy from several different renewable sources, with a total of AED 50 billion ($14 billion) in investments.
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Paddy Padmanathan, CEO of ACWA Power, said, “24-hour dispatchable cost competitive solar energy that this project will deliver is not just a monumental step forward in achieving the goals of Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy but is also possibly the most significant contribution to accelerating the energy revolution across the world. The investment of $750 Million ACWA Power is making into this project is also the single largest investment we are making in any project.”
Dubai’s 700 MW CSP project will add almost 15% to current global capacity (Image credit: IRENA)
