Dubai's state energy utility awarded a $3.9 billion contract to build and run a 700-megawatt solar power plant to a consortium comprising Shanghai Electric and Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power.
The project will feature a 260-metre (850-foot) tower receiving focused sunlight, the world's tallest such tower. The consortium bid to supply electricity to Dubai for 7.3 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour.
ACWA Power, established in Saudi Arabia in 2008, is a company engaged in energy operations to reduce pollution such as solar energy, geothermal and wind. With an installed capacity of 33,000 MW, the company produces electricity from fossil fuels or renewable sources in 11 countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
The first stage of the project is due to be commissioned in late 2020. It is part of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park, a vast complex which is projected to generate 1,000MW by 2020 and 5,000MW by 2030. 327-million dollar Solar Park Project was built by Spain’s TSK consortium.
The government aims to use the solar park and other energy sources to increase the share of clean energy in Dubai’s power output to 7 percent by 2020, 25 percent by 2030 and 75 percent by 2050.
ACWA Power, which plans to invest in 340 MW power in wind power plant, is investing in a 950 MW power plant with $ 1 billion investment in Kırıkkale, Turkey.