The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) has engaged First Solar, Inc to develop a 13MW solar PV power plant near Dubai. First Solar will not only handle all engineering, procurement and construction details but will also use its own thin-film modules for the project.
The solar power plant is just the first step in a much larger project, the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The solar park, an AED $12 billion (about USD $3 billion) project, will cover 30 miles with solar panels and generate 1,000 MW for the capital of Dubai.
The development will ultimately incorporate both solar PV and solar thermal technology.
“The PV plant installation is a key step in the implementation of the energy diversification strategy adopted by the Supreme Council of Energy, in which solar energy is set to become part of Dubai’s energy portfolio. The strategy is based on Dubai’s growing energy requirements and aims to maintain security of supply in the Emirate of Dubai,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, in a statement.
For its part, the stage one PV power plant will produce over 22 million kWh of electricity annually. That’s enough to support 500 nearby households while saving 14,000 metric tons of CO2 each year.
Earlier in the week, we spotlighted a neighboring country’s renewable energy goals. Cleantechnica reported last week that that Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, a main spokesman for Saudi Arabia, made a startling statement at the Global Economic Symposium in Brazil last week: his country intends to be 100% powered by renewable energy and other low-carbon energy forms.
these days declared it has been chosen by the Dubai Power & Water Authority (DEWA) to build a 13 megawatt (MW[DC]) solar photovoltaic.