Masdar, a United Arab Emirates based energy company, has signed a contract with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority to construct and operate the sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. It will be constructed with an investment of $1.5 billion. The total energy generation capacity of the solar facility is 1.8 GW. Masdar emerged as a winner amongst 23 bidders in a solar auction.
Overall, the present total production capacity of solar projects at the solar park is more than 2.4 GW. The solar park’s sixth phase will accelerate the total production capacity to more than 4.6 GW. Once finished, the sixth phase will eliminate 2.36 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year and provide enough clean energy to power 540,000 homes with green electricity.
In September 2023, Masdar and Jinko Power finalised the construction of two solar projects in Saudi Arabia with a total capacity of 1.5 GW. Reportedly, the Saudi Power Procurement Company chose the bidders for round 4 solar projects. The larger of the two plans is the 1.1 GW Al Henakiyah solar project, which will be built in western Saudi Arabia’s Medina Province. While Jinko’s proposal was for $0.0171 per kWh, the Masdar-led consortium suggested a lower levelized cost of energy of $0.0168 per kWh.
REGlobal’s Views: The completion of this entire solar park of 5 GW capacity will significantly help the country in moving closer to its targets set under the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of the total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. The said solar park has attracted interest from across the world and has discovered some of the lowest global prices for solar energy in its various tenders.
