Solar power in the United Arab Emirates

Solar potential in the UAE

Solar power in the United Arab Emirates has the potential to provide most of the country's electricity demand. While being a major oil producing country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken steps to introduce solar power on a large scale. The UAE was the 6th top carbon dioxide emitter per capita in the world in 2009: 40.31 tonnes per capita.[1]

Abu Dhabi

In 2013, the Shams solar power station, a 100-megawatt (MW) concentrated solar power (CSP) plant near Abu Dhabi became operational. The US$600 million Shams 1 is the largest CSP plant outside the United States and Spain and is expected to be followed by two more stations, Shams 2 and Shams 3.[2]

Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is designed to be the most environmentally sustainable city in the world. The city relies entirely on renewable energy. Power is generated by a 10 MW solar PV power plant located on site and 1 MW of rooftop solar panels. Originally planned to have all rooftop panels, it was found easier to clean the sand off ground mounted panels at a single location.[3]

Dubai

The Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 calls for natural gas to provide 71% of Dubai’s total power output, nuclear energy 12%, clean coal 12%, and solar power 5%, by 2030.[4]

The first phase of the proposed 1,000 MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai was the 13-megawatt (DC) solar farm (DEWA 13) that had been constructed by First Solar in 2013. It uses 152,880 FS-385 black CdTe modules and generates about 24 gigawatt-hours per year.[5][6] The second phase is a 200 MWAC (260 MWp[7]) photovoltaic plant to be built by ACWA Power, a Riyadh-based company, expected to be completed in April 2017.[8] In April 2015, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) publicly announced the third phase of 800 MW, along with Dubai's revised target to increase the share of renewables on the energy mix to 7% by 2020.[9]

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is one of the world's largest renewable project based on an independent power producer (IPP) model. Besides the three phases that consist of solar farms using PV technology, the long-term project will also include concentrating solar power (CSP). The total capacity of the entire project is planned to reach 3,000 MW.[9]

The 200-megawatt second phase of the project caused worldwide attention, as the winning bid of the tender set a new record-low traiff of only US ¢5.84 per kilowatt-hour. This is about 20% lower than any previous, unsubsidized power purchase agreement (PPA) the world has seen before. The PPA is set to a 25-year time frame.[7]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ World carbon dioxide emissions data by country: China speeds ahead of the rest Guardian 31 January 2011
  2. ↑ shamspower.ae Shames-website
  3. ↑ Masdar: the shifting goalposts of Abu Dhabi's ambitious eco-city, Wired, 17 December 2013
  4. ↑ STATE OF REPORT: Dubai 2014, United Nations Development Programme, ISBN 978-9948-20-456-5 (Note: In the original document, the ISBN is printed as "5-456-20-9948-978", which reads right to left.)
  5. ↑ DEWA 13 Solar Plant, First Solar
  6. ↑ FirstSolar Factsheet, PDF
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://ameinfo.com/ ACWA Power wins 200 megawatts (260MWp) phase II Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 17 January 2015
  8. ↑ Dubai Doubles Power-Plant Size to Make Cheapest Solar Energy, Bloomberg, Anthony DiPaola, January 15, 2015
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 SolarServer.com DEWA announces 800 MW third Phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, 21 April 2015