The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has signed with the coalition led by Aqua Power and the Gulf Investment Corporation, a power purchase agreement for 25 years, for the fifth phase of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Energy Complex, with a capacity of 900 megawatts, using solar PV panels, according to the independent product system .
The fifth stage will be run in phases, starting in the third quarter of 2021.
The agreement was signed by video communication by the managing director of the authority, Saeed Mohamed Al Tayer, and the Chairman of the ACWA Power board, Mohamed Abounian.
In November 2019, the authority announced that the coalition would choose to implement the fifth phase of the complex. The authority has achieved a global achievement, by obtaining the lowest global competitive price of 1.6953 US cents per kilowatt hour for this stage. The authority had received 60 qualification requests from international developers to implement the project.
The authority established the "Shuaa Energy-3" company, to implement the project (owns 60% of its shares), in partnership with the coalition led by Aqua Power and the Gulf Investment Corporation, which owns 40% of the remaining shares of the company.
The project will use the latest technologies of two-sided photovoltaic solar panels, which allow the use of reflected sunlight on both front and back, with a uniaxial solar tracking system to increase energy productivity.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest strategic project for renewable energy generation in one location in the world, according to the Independent Product System (IPP), to reach 5,000 megawatts by 2030, and with investments amounting to 50 billion dirhams, as it will contribute through its projects to accelerate the transformation Towards the adoption and use of solar energy.
Al Tayer said that the fifth stage of the complex with a capacity of 900 megawatts with the independent product system constitutes a qualitative addition to the record of our series of successful projects in the field of solar and clean energy, which use the best global technologies to produce electricity from clean energy sources.
Abunyan stressed that the success of the fifth stage in registering the lowest price for the solar energy sector globally, and proceeding with its implementation in accordance with the highest technical, operational and technical standards, confirm the strength and competitiveness of the economic system of the Emirate of Dubai.