The project, to be built using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, is part of the strategy of the emirate to produce 75 percent of its power from clean energy by 2050.
Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), vowed that Dubai will embark on a cleaner, self-sufficient future through renewable energy.
The CSP plant, to be located at the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, will produce cheap power at less than 8 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour, said Al Tayer at a press conference at the Burj Khalifa.
First phase of the project aims to produce 200 MW starting April 2021, according to Al Tayer, who invited international solar consultants to submit proposals.
“This project is going to be the biggest CSP plant worldwide,” he said of the project’s first stage, which will surpass the CSP tower in Morocco that has 150MW generating capacity.
“Today’s announcement of the first CSP project will be followed by other major projects to diversify Dubai’s energy mix. This will contribute to achieving the vision or our wise leadership to make Dubai number one globally, and our vision to become a sustainable, innovative world-class utility,” he added.
Under the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, Dewa aims to provide seven percent of the emirate’s total power output from clean energy sources by 2020, 25 percent by 2030, and 75 percent by 2050.
Also called solar thermal, CSP produces energy, which can be transformed efficiently into electricity, through circular rings of solar mirrors called heliostats that direct sunlight into a central collection tower.
Morocco currently has the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant designed to produce energy enough to power over a million homes by 2018. The first stage of the three-part project started operating in February.
