State utility Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea) is planning to develop a 1.5GW photovoltaic (PV) plant for its next major renewable energy project.

According to sources in the emirate’s utilities sector, the utility is planning to launch the tendering process for the solar project in May or June. The project is expected to be located in the Al-Dhafra area, according to sources, and will be developed under the independent power producer (IPP) model.

In February last year, Adwea awarded a contract to a consortium led by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and China’s Jinko Solar to develop a 1,177MW IPP PV solar plant at Sweihan, the world’s largest single-site solar project.

The Sweihan solar IPP had been tendered with a 350MW capacity, but a number of the developers submitted alternative proposals for much larger-capacity plants. The Marubeni/Jinko Solar consortium submitted the lowest tariff in September 2016 for the 350MW PV Sweihan IPP. The tariff of 2.42 $c/kWh (cents a kilowatt hour) set the world record for an unsubsidised PV solar project. While the actual tariff will be higher as the price will be based on evaluated weighted levelised electricity costs (EWLEC), which includes adjustments for electrical energy provided, rather than just the weighted levelised electricity costs (WLEC), it was still considered a record tariff at the time it was offered.

The project forms part of the UAE’s target for 50 per cent of energy to come from clean resources by 2050, of which 44 per cent will come from renewable energy.

Germany’s Fichtner is the technical adviser for the Sweihan scheme. US-based Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is the legal adviser and the UK’s Alderbrook Finance is providing financial advisory services.