State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the selected developer for the planned 800MW photovoltaic (PV) solar third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park.

Dewa selected the developer consortium led by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) as the preferred bidder for the 800MW third phase of the solar park in June after receiving bids from five consortiums on 1 May.

The Masdar/ALJ consortium submitted the lowest tariff of 2.99 cents a kilowatt hour ($c/kWh), at the time a world record for a solar PV 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 Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and the US’ First Solar submitted the third-lowest tariff of 3.95$c/kWh. The UK/French Engie and Japanese Marubeni consortium submitted the fourth-ranked tariff of 4.382$c/kWh, with France’s EDF Renovables and Qatar’s Nebras submitting the final bid of 4.482$c/kWh.

The scheme will be developed in three phases, with the full 800MW to be online in 2020.

The 200MW first phase is planned to be commissioned by April 2018. The second phase will have a capacity of 300MW, which will be commissioned by April 2019. The final 300MW third phase will be commissioned by April 2020.

The scheme will be developed under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

MEED reported in December 2015 that Dewa had received 21 requests for qualification (RFQs) for the scheme. The utility had received expressions of interest (EOIs) from 95 companies in September.

In 2015, Dubai increased its targets for renewable energy. The Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum solar park is planned to produce 1,000MW of renewable energy, with this figure rising to 5,000MW by 2030.