Dubai’s DEWA inaugurates new visitor centre in fourth phase of mega solar park

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has inaugurated the Noor Energy 1 Visitors Centre as part of the fourth phase of the mega Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The visitors centre features an exhibition that chronicles the history of energy and future energy technologies. It displays the latest technologies in concentrated solar power (CSP), photovoltaic cells, and the future of green hydrogen.

It also uses virtual reality (VR) to enable visitors to tour the solar park and understand the projects and technologies being used to produce energy.

Overall, the 950-megawatt (MW) fourth phase of the park has investments totalling Dhs15.78bn based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model.

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

A consortium led by DEWA and ACWA Power formed a project company, Noor Energy 1, to design, build, and operate the plant. DEWA owns 51 per cent of the company, while ACWA Power holds 25 per cent, and the Silk Road Fund owns 24 per cent.

“When fully operational, Noor Energy 1 will be the largest single-site concentrated solar power plant in the world,” said Mohammad Abunayyan, chairman of ACWA Power.

“This experience centre will allow visitors to understand and witness this unique project from a technological and solutions perspective.”

Once completed, the project will have the largest thermal storage capacity in the world of 15 hours, allowing for energy availability round the clock.

In addition, it will provide clean energy for around 320,000 residences and reduce 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

“DEWA’s projects at the solar park using the IPP model constitute one of the key pillars of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 per cent of energy from clean energy sources by 2050,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA.

Read: Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to have world’s largest energy storage capacity

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is also the largest single-site solar park in the world. With a planned total capacity of 5,000MW by 2030, it involves an investment of Dhs50bn.

The total capacity of operational projects at the solar park, which uses photovoltaic solar panels, is 1,013MW. DEWA is creating an additional capacity of 1,850MW using solar panels and CSP.