Dubai to hire consultancy for 800-MW solar project - report

Dubai expects to hire next month a consultancy for the 800-MW third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar project, The National said, quoting an official.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has already shortlisted eight companies and is in the final stages of evaluation, Waleed Salman, executive vice president of business development, said as cited by the newspaper.

The appointed consultancy will help DEWA determine whether to realise the 800-MW next portion of the solar complex in one or several phases. Salman expects the request for bids as part of the upcoming stage to occur by the end of the year. He noted, as cited by the paper, that the awards will be made in the first half of next year.

The first phase of the photovoltaic (PV) project, with a capacity of 13 MW, has already been completed by US company First Solar Inc. Earlier this year, the 200-MW phase II was awarded to ACWA Power International and its Spanish partner TSK and is expected to be completed by April 2017. The whole complex is seen to reach 3 GW in 2030. It was originally planned as a 1-GW facility.

The National also quoted ACWA’s head Paddy Padmanathan as saying that, depending on when the next tender is launched, the fixed tariff could be even better than the record low winning bid of USD 0.0584 (EUR 0.0514) per kWh in the phase II auction.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.880)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!