Clean energy now accounts for 9% of Dubai’s total output

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced on Sunday that clean energy now accounts for around 9 per cent of Dubai’s total output.

These figures exceed the targets that were set out in the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050. That strategy aimed for 7 per cent of Dubai’s total power output to stem from clean energy sources by 2020 and 75 per cent by 2050.

The total installed capacity is 11,700MW of electricity. This includes 1,013MW from photovoltaic solar panels at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the world’s largest solar park, it revealed in a press statement.

The share of clean energy in Dubai’s energy mix has increased to around 9%. This exceeds the target set in the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aimed to provide 7% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy sources by 2020 and 75% by 2050. #DEWANews pic.twitter.com/MesfmL6AOu

— DEWA | Official Page (@DEWAOfficial) May 31, 2020

The total capacity of the projects under construction at the solar park is 1,850MW from photovoltaic and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), with future phases to reach 5,000MW by 2030.

“We recently signed the power purchase agreement for the 900MW fifth phase of the solar park with a consortium led by ACWA Power and Gulf Investment Corporation. The total investments of the project exceed Dhs2bn. The project achieved a new record by receiving the lowest international bid of $1.6953 cents per kilowatt hour using photovoltaic solar panels based on the Independent Power Producer model,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of DEWA.

The 13MW first phase of the solar park became operational in 2013 using photovoltaic solar panels and contributes to reducing over 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The 200MW photovoltaic second phase meanwhile was commissioned in 2017 and provides clean energy to 50,000 residences in Dubai, and reduce 214,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The 800MW third phase is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to use an advanced single-axis solar tracking system to raise energy production.

Read: Third phase of Dubai’s mega solar park to be operational in April

The fourth phase meanwhile is the world’s largest single-site investment project that combines CSP and photovoltaic technology with a capacity of 950MW using an IPP model.

It will use 700MW of CSP, 600MW from a parabolic basin complex, 100MW from a solar tower and 250MW from photovoltaic solar panels.

The solar tower, at 260 metres, will the tallest of its kind in the world. It will also have the biggest global thermal storage capacity of 15 hours, allowing for energy availability around the clock.

The fifth phase, which will be commissioned in Q3 2021, will have a planned capacity of 900MW using photovoltaic solar panels and will provide clean energy to 270,000 residences in Dubai.

It will reduce 1.18 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually. The project will use the latest solar photovoltaic bifacial technologies with Single Axis Tracking to increase energy production.

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