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Dewa to award tender for third Solar Park project in early 2016

Dubai - Dewa will develop, construct, own and operate the 200MW second phase of the Solar Park at a price of 5.85 cents per kWh.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, or Dewa, will award the tender for the 800-megawatt third project of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park early next year and the utility's chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer indicated that the price below five cents per kWh would be ideal.
Earlier this year, a consortium led by Acwa Powerand made headlines when it was selected by the Dewa to develop, construct, own and operate the 200MW second phase of the Solar Park at a price of 5.85 cents per kWh. "We expect better price. It's better it should be below five cents per kWh," Al Tayer told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the first Dubai Solar Show.
Earlier this month, the utility announced that it has received 21 requests for qualification from international energy companies and consortia for the third project based on the independent power producer, or IPP, model.
Last month, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the second project of the Solar Park, the largest single-site project of its kind in the world, based on the IPP model. It will generate 1,000MW by 2020, and 5,000MW by 2030, with total investments of Dh50 billion. Shaikh Mohammed also launched Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, to make the emirate a global centre of clean energy and green economy, and provide seven per cent of Dubai's energy from clean energy sources by 2020, 25 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by 2050.
Dubai also aims to install solar panels on the roofs of all buildings in Dubai by 2030. The Dewa has already launched the Shams Dubai initiative to encourage building owners to install photovoltaic panels to generate electricity and connect it to the Dewa's grid.
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com