Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) is planning to develop its first concentrated solar power (CSP) plant for the fourth phase of its ambitious Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (MBR) solar park.

The authority has invited firms to bid for the advisory services contract for the proposed 200MW CSP fourth phase of the park, which will be developed under the indepedent power project (IPP) model. Consultants have until 20 July to submit bids for the role.

The 200MW scheme will be the first major CSP project at the park, with the initial three phases all using photovoltaic (PV) solar energy.

The 13MW first phase was constructed under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, and was commissioned in October 2013. In early 2015, Dewa awarded a contract to Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power to develop the 200MW PV second phase as an IPP with a then world-record tariff of 5.85 cents a kilowatt hour ($c/kWh).

In May, Dewa received bids for the 800MW third phase of the park, which will also utilise PV technology.

A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel, Spain’s Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) and the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) submitted a new world-record low tariff of 3 cents a kilowatt hour ($c/kWh) for the third-phase project.

The low bid was 18 per cent lower than the 3.65$c/kWh submitted by China’s Jinko Solar Holding.

A consortium of Acwa Power and the US’ First Solar submitted the third-lowest tariff of 3.95$c/kWh. A team of UK/French Engie and Japan’s Marubeni submitted the fourth-ranked tariff of 4.382$c/kWh, with France’s EDF Renovables and Qatar’s Nebras submitting the final bid of 4.482$c/kWh.