Dubai’s plans for world’s biggest solar park takes shape

Latest News »
- Comcast formalizes bid for Sky in challenge to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox
- PNB to hire detective agencies to locate untraceable borrowers for bad loans recovery
- IDBI Federal Life net profit jumps 94% to Rs101 crore in FY18
- Wipro Q4 profit falls 20% to Rs1, 803 crore, misses estimates
- EPFO to inform subscribers about contributions not deposited by firms
Dubai: Dubai’s government-owned utility completed a 200-megawatt power plant one month ahead of schedule as part of a plan to build the world’s largest solar energy park by 2030.
The 1.2 billion dirham ($327 million) solar plant in the Dubai desert, led by developer ACWA Power International of Saudi Arabia, was scheduled to be completed in April, said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, chief executive officer of the emirate’s utility. Al Tayer said Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) will buy power from the plant for 5.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, which was the lowest cost globally for solar power at the time the project was awarded in January 2015. Since then, DEWA has contracted power at an even lower price of 2.99 cents for another facility.
Dubai plans to have 5,000 megawatts of solar capacity at the park by 2030 as it seeks to reduce reliance on natural gas as the main source of energy for electricity. The solar plant started on Monday will produce enough electricity for 50,000 homes. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which holds about 6% of global crude reserves, plans to spend 600 billion dirhams on renewable energy by the middle of the century, Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in January.
“The UAE started early its preparations to bid farewell to the last drop of oil,” Al Tayer said Monday at the inauguration of the new plant. Dubai will generate 10% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, he said.
Construction for the third phase of the solar park, an 800 megawatt facility, is under way, Al Tayer said. Contracts for the fourth phase of the park will be awarded in June, he said. That segment of the solar park will likely supply power for about 8 cents per kilowatt hour, using concentrated solar power technology, he said.
DEWA is funding the projects through a partnership with power plant developers. It doesn’t plan to raise more debt on its own to refinance borrowings and expects to use cash flow to repay a $1 billion sukuk coming due in April 2018, Al Tayer said. Bloomberg
Latest News »
India ride-hailing firm Jugnoo eyes Singapore as Uber drives off
GST Council to meet on 4 May, simplifying returns on agenda
UltraTech Cement Q4 profit falls 39% to Rs446 crore
Govt hikes raw jute MSP by Rs200 to Rs3,700 per quintal for 2018-19
Bharti Infratel board reappoints Akhil Kumar Gupta as executive chairman