Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) is expected to soon start asking consultants to pitch for a mandate as financial adviser on plans to develop a 100MW solar power project.

One source close to Dewa says, “I expect there to be a lot of interest in this scheme.” The project is set to be the first independent solar energy project in the emirate. Abu Dhabi has already developed one independent solar scheme, Shams 1 at Masdar.

Dubai plans to build the 1,000MW Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park as part of its efforts to diversify its energy sources away from gas and to include nuclear and solar power.