Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has inaugurated the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park in Dubai.

The 950MW fourth phase of the MBR solar park required an investment of AED15.78bn ($4.34bn).

It uses hybrid technologies: 600MW from a parabolic basin complex, 100MW from the CSP tower, and 250MW from solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

The independent power producer (IPP) project features the tallest solar tower in the world, at 263.126 metres, and a thermal energy storage facility with a capacity of 5,907 megawatt-hours (MWh), the world's largest according to the Guinness World Records.

The project covers an area of 44 square kilometres. It features 70,000 heliostats that track the sun’s movement. The molten salt receiver (MSR) on top of the solar power tower is the core and the most important part of the CSP plant. It receives solar radiation and turns it into thermal energy.

The MSR contains over 1,000 thin tubes that enable the absorption of sun rays and their transfer to the molten salt within these tubes.

The project can power approximately 320,000 residences with clean and sustainable energy. It will reduce carbon emissions by about 1.6 million tonnes annually.

The completion of the project's fourth phase brings the total capacity of the MBR solar park to 2,863MW so far. The phases and their capacities are:

• 13MW solar PV phase one: Completed in 2013
• 200MW solar PV phase two: Commissioned in 2017
• 800MW solar PV phase three: Commissioned in 2020
• 950MW hybrid CSP/solar PV phase four: Inaugurated in 2023
• 900MW solar PV phase five: Commissioned in 2023

Dewa is aiming for the MBR development to reach 5,000MW of capacity by 2030. It recently awarded the UAE-based Masdar the contract to develop the solar park's sixth phase, which has capacity of 1,800MW.

Project background

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) awarded a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and China's Silk Road Fund the contract to develop a 700MW CSP plant with storage for the fourth phase scheme in November 2017. Since then, the project has been expanded to include a 250MW solar PV component.

Acwa Power then awarded Shanghai Electric the $3.8bn EPC contract for the hybrid CSP/PV plant in early 2018.

The project reached financial closure in March 2019. The cost will be met through $2.9bn of debt and $1.5bn of equity.

According to the project structure, Dewa is to provide $750m, or half of the project equity. Project developers Acwa Power and the Silk Road Fund will provide 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of the remaining equity.

The fourth phase project achieved a tariff of 7.3 $cents a kilowatt hour ($c/kWh) for the CSP component and 2.4$c/kWh for the PV capacity, two of the lowest tariffs for CSP and PV solar technology in the world at the time of award.

Dewa holds a 51 per cent stake in the project company, Noor Energy 1, set up to develop the plant, with Acwa Power and the Silk Road Fund holding the remaining stake. The developer consortium has signed a 35-year power-purchase agreement to supply power to Dubai’s grid.

Photo: Wam