Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is a solar park spread over a total area of 77 km2 in Seih Al-Dahal, about 50 kilometers south of the city of Dubai. The plant was implemented by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. The first phase of the project was commissioned on 22 October 2013.
History
The solar park was announced by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in January 2012. The first phase of the park was a 13 MWp solar farm constructed by First Solar. It was commissioned on 22 October 2013. It uses 152,880 FS-385 black CdTe modules and generates about 28 GWh per year which corresponds to a capacity factor of 24.6%.The second phase is a 200 MWp photovoltaic plant built at a cost of US$320 million by a consortium led by ACWA Power and Spanish company TSK. The second phase was scheduled to be commissioned by April 2017. It was completed ahead of time, and commissioned on 22 March 2017. TSK served as the primary contractor for the project, while ACWA Power will operate the plant. The phase includes 2.3 million photovoltaic solar panels spread over an area of 4.5 km2. ACWA Power secured a 27-year debt financing loan worth $344 million from the First Gulf Bank, the National Commercial Bank and the Samba Financial Group. The plant uses First Solar's CdTe modules.
The 200 MWp second phase of the project caused worldwide attention, as the winning bid of the tender set a new record-low tariff of only US ¢5.89 per kilowatt-hour. This is about 20% lower than any previous, unsubsidized power purchase agreement the world has seen before. The PPA is set to a 25-year time frame. Assuming the same capacity factor as for phase 1 the annual production will be approximately 430 GWh/yr.
In April 2015, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority publicly announced the third phase of 800 MWp. A consortium led by Abu Dubai Future Energy Company was awarded the contract for phase three in June 2016. The phase is expected to be completed by 2020.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is one of the world's largest renewable project based on an independent power producer model. Besides the three phases that consist of solar farms using PV technology, the long-term project will also include concentrating solar power. The total capacity of the entire project is planned to reach 5,000 MWp.
DEWA released a request for the Expression of Interest for the 2006 MWe CSP project on 4 October 2016 and awarded the project works at 9.45 US cents/kWh purchase price in June 2017. DEWA also awarded the 700 MWe CSP project in September 2017 at record breaking purchase price of 7.30 US cents/kWh. The projects recently completed fourth phase solar power tower is the tallest in the world standing 262m tall.
| phase | capacity | technology | commissioned |
| first | 13 MW | photovoltaic | 2013 |
| second | 200 MW | photovoltaic | April 2017 |
| third | 200 MW 300 MW 300 MW | photovoltaic | May 2018 2019? 2020 |
| fourth | 600 MW 100 MW 250 MW | parabolic trough solar tower photovoltaic | ? |
| fifth | 900 MW | photovoltaic | 2021 |
| total | 2863 MW |