Project’s fourth phase advances further with completion of 128 pillars of solar tower

The fourth phase of the park is the world’s largest singlesite investment project in concentrated solar power

Dubai: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) on Saturday said that construction work on the fourth phase of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park has advanced further with the completion of 128 pillars of the project’s solar tower.

The fourth phase of the park is the world’s largest single-site investment project in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model.

Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa, announced the latest updates on the progress of the project during a visit to review the construction work on the ark, one of the world’s largest single-site solar parks. Featuring a total investment of Dh50 billion, the park will reach a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030.

Al Tayer was accompanied during his visit by Waleed Salman, executive vice-president of Business Development and Excellence at Dewa; Jamal Shaheen Al Hammadi, vice president of Clean Energy & Diversification at Dewa; and a number of DEWA officials.

Al Tayer was briefed on the progress of construction work by Abdul Hamed Al Muhaidib, executive managing director of Noor Energy 1, a venture formed through a partnership between Dewa, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Silk Road Fund to build the fourth phase of the Park.

A view of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park

The fourth phase of the solar park will use three technologies to produce 950MW of clean energy — 600MW from a parabolic basin complex, 100MW from a solar tower, and 250MW will be generated from photovoltaic panels.

Al Tayer stressed on the importance of ensuring the highest standards of health, safety, and quality in the project.

The project has already achieved many world records. It will have the world’s tallest solar tower at 260m, and the largest thermal energy storage capacity in the world of 15 hours, which allows for energy generation round the clock.

It also achieved the lowest Levelised Cost of Electricity of 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the 250MW photovoltaic solar panels technology and 7.3 cents per kWh for the 700MW CSP technology, the lowest worldwide.

The total capacity of the fourth phase of the solar park rose from 700MW to 950MW, with investments for this ambitious project reaching Dh16 billion.

The park will generate 5,000MW by 2030.

The 13MW photovoltaic first phase became operational in 2013. The 200MW photovoltaic second phase of the solar park was launched in March 2017.

The 200MW first stage of the 800MW photovoltaic third phase became operational in May 2018. The third phase will be completed in 2020.