DEWA solar auction awards Masdar team 800MW project

A consortium led by Masdar, a renewable energy investor based in Abu Dhabi, has won an auction to build an 800MW solar project in Dubai.

The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) awarded the Masdar consortium rights to construct the third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park partly because of its bid to generate electricity at 2.99 cents per kilowatt hour, which would make it the world’s cheapest power generated from the sun. DEWA expects the project to be completed by 2020.

The other consortium members are a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif and two Spanish renewable energy developers, Jameel Fotowatio Renewable Ventures and Gransolar Group.

The second-lowest bid for this phase of the project came from JinkSolar, at $3.65 c/kWh. The highest bid, at $4.482 c/kWh, was from EDF and Qatar’s Nebras.

DEWA will hold 60 percent of the venture’s equity, with the Masdar-led group holding the remainder. The consortium is responsible for financing the 800MW project.

The Al Maktoum Solar Park was originally supposed to be a 1GW project but its targeted capacity has since been increased to 5GW by 2030, representing a total investment of $13.6 billion. The 13MW first phase is already operational, and the 200MW second phase is under construction.

Earlier this month, DEWA launched the tender process for the fourth phase of its solar park, which will be a 1GW concentrated solar project (CSP). Independent power producers can bid to construct the 200MW initial part of the project. CSP uses mirrors to concentrate solar energy to drive steam turbines that create electricity.

DEWA sees the Al Maktoum Solar Park as key to help the United Arab Emirates reach its goal to generate 25 percent of electricity from clean energy sources by 2030.