Dubai opens 800MW tender for iconic $3bn solar power park
Dubai has opened the tender for the third phase of its iconic Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and total investment could reach $3bn
Dubai has opened the tender for the third phase of its iconic solar power park and the total investment in the project could reach $3 billion.
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority launched the 800 MW tender for the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and it will remain open until 29 September 2015.
The tender is the largest issued so far for the planned 3 GW solar power park and the additional 800 MW capacity is expected to be commissioned by 2018.
The first phase of the solar park involved the installation of 13 MW of capacity, and the second phase tender saw 200 MW of capacity famously auctioned to Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power at record-low average tariff of 5.84¢/kWh.
ACWA Power announced in March that it has secured a debt financing loan worth $344 million for the project and t27-year loan will be provided by Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank and 2 Saudi banks — the National Commercial Bank and the Samba Financial Group.
The initial capacity target for the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park was 1 GW by 2019 but was extended to 3 GW by 2030 earlier this year and the total estimated investment is expected to reach $3 billion.
The solar power park is named after Sheikh Mohammed, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Emir of Dubai (pictured) and is central to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s target to source 7 per cent of Dubai’s total energy from renewable sources by 2020, and 15 per cent by 2030.
The United Arab Emirates plans to source at least 24 per cent of its total electricity demand from clean energy sources including renewable energy and nuclear power.