Sixth phase of Dubai solar park to add another 900 MW of capacity

The Dubai utility developing the world's largest single-site solar park has revealed that the next phase of the 5 GW field will have a generating capacity of 900 MW.

Local utility DEWA said this week that it had received bids from four international companies seeking the consultancy contract for the sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The project is intended to have 5 GW of solar and concentrating solar power (CSP) capacity upon completion in 2030.

The DEWA announcement, made on the utility's website, did not say whether the next phase of the project would consist of solar panels, CSP, or a mix of the two. No further details of phase six were specified.

The power company said the park has 1,627 MW of installed generation capacity – consisting of the 13 MW first phase, the 200 MW second stage, and the 800 MW third phase, plus sections of the fourth and fifth slices of the project, which are still under development.

On the latter two project sections, DEWA said a further 1,233 MW of generation capacity is on the way, including 700 MW of delayed CSP. That would leave 2,140 MW of generation capacity to be added by 2030, of which 900 MW will form part of phase six.

Those pre-phase six solar capacities would mean the emirate of Dubai would be generating 11.5% of its energy mix from clean power, according to DEWA CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, who added that the percentage is expected to rise to 14% this year.