The sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which will produce 1,800MW of clean energy, enough to power 540,000 residences in Dubai, and being built at a cost of AED5.5 billion ($1.5 billion), has achieved financial closure.
This was announced by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), which was selected as the preferred bidder to build and operate the sixth phase.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Warba Bank are among the lending groups.
Built at an investment of nearly AED50 billion ($13.6 billion) Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world and completion of the sixth phase will play a key role in exceeding its output to over 5,000 megawatt by 2030.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, commented: “The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park supports the UAE’s position as a leading global hub for clean energy. It is aligned with the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 percent of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.
“DEWA is implementing the sixth phase of the solar park in cooperation with Masdar, based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model and using the latest solar photovoltaic bifacial technologies with single-axis tracking.
“The current production capacity at the solar park is 2,627MW and the total capacity under construction is 2,033MW. The 1,800MW sixth phase of the solar park will see the total production capacity increase to 4,660MW by 2026.”
Masdar was selected as the Preferred Bidder to build and operate the sixth phase, which will cost up to AED5.5 billion ($1.5 billion). It has achieved the lowest Levelised Cost of Energy (LCoE) of $1.6215 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the Solar Park.
The clean energy from the phase will reduce around 2.36 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually. The project will cover an area of 20 square kilometres.
DEWA established Shuaa Energy 4 in partnership with Masdar for the sixth phase. The Dubai utilities company owns 60 percent, while Masdar owns the remaining 40 percent.
Mohamed Jameel Al-Ramahi, Masdar CEO, said: “Accessing capital is fundamental to accelerating the global energy transition and this expansion of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is an important milestone for the UAE in its own clean energy journey. Masdar looks forward to further deepening our partnership with DEWA as we work collectively to support the country’s National Energy Strategy 2050 and the UAE Consensus.”
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