Dow has signed sales and service contracts with Shanghai Electric to provide DOWTHERM A – heat transfer fluid – and on-the-ground services for a 700MW concentrated solar power (CSP) and 250MW photovoltaic (PV) hybrid project in Dubai

Once complete, this 950-MW project will provide clean energy to more than 270,000 homes in Dubai while helping to reduce over 1.4mn metric tonnes of carbon emissions per year. Additionally, this project will provide a very low levelised electricity cost of US 7.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, bringing an increasingly competitive position for CSP technology in energy generation versus other sources.

The partnership will go on to collaborate on more clean energy projects in Asia Pacific markets. (Image source: Dow)

“This strategic partnership will bring together industry-leading strengths of Shanghai Electric with Dow’s rich expertise in the design, handling and transport of heat transfer fluids. With our history of successful concentrated solar power projects across the globe, and our strong global capabilities, we are excited to play an essential role in advancing this project of the DEWA while supporting improved carbon emissions,” said Ester Baiget, business president, Dow Industrial Solutions.

“We look forward to starting this exciting project and seeing the contribution it will make to the advancement of the concentrated solar power industry and the wider clean energy and green economy. As sustainability is at the core of the corporate strategy for both Dow and Shanghai Electric, we hope to build on this partnership and collaborate on more clean energy projects in China as well as other Asia Pacific markets in the future,” added Cao Min, president of Shanghai Electric power generation group.

A consortium comprising of Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Shanghai Electric was earlier awarded the contract of engineering, procurement, and construction of the 700MW CSP project and an additional 250MW PV project by DEWA.

The CSP project will comprise a 600MW parabolic basin complex (three CSP plants adopting trough technology, 200MW each) and a 100MW solar tower. Under the terms of the sales and service contracts between Dow and Shanghai Electric, Dow will be the sole supplier of heat transfer fluids for the three CSP trough plants in three phases through 2022.

DOWTHERM A is capable of withstanding temperatures as high as 400ºC to collect, transport, and store heat in CSP systems. Compared to lower purity heat transfer fluids at 99.5 per cent, DOWTHERM A has a 99.9 per cent purity, which is essential for increasing fluid lifetime and significantly reducing maintenance and operating costs in CSP plants.

The Phase IV of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is one of the world’s largest CSP/PV projects with an investment of US$3.9bn and a design capacity of 950MW.

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