Dubai Will Soon Be Home to World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Facility

Dubai is firmly committed to renewable energy.  It plans for 7% of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, 25% by 2030, and 75% by 2050.  The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced this week that it has awarded a contract to build the world’s largest concentrated solar power facility in the country.

The winning bid comes from a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Shanghai Electric, Arab News reports.  It came in at 7.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, the lowest price ever for a CSP power plant.  The facility will generate 700 megawatts of power and cost about $4 billion to construct.  Its central tower — the heart of any CSP facility — will be the tallest in the world at 260 meters.

“Our focus on renewable energy generation has led to a drop in prices worldwide and has lowered the price of solar power bids in Europe and the Middle East.  This was evident today when we received the lowest CSP project cost in the world,” said Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, the chief executive of DEWA.

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