ABU DHABI 27 July 2020: The Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec), has announced the award for the world’s largest solar power plant in Abu Dhabi.
The project was awarded to a consortium led by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), and Masdar, with partners French electric utility company, EDF, and JinkoPower, for the development of the 2 GW Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic, PV, Independent Power Producer, IPP, project.
It will be located some 35 kilometres from Abu Dhabi city. The project’s power purchase agreement, PPA, and shareholders’ agreement were signed with Ewec, said a press release issued by Ewec on Sunday.
The rigorous procurement process resulted in one of the most cost-competitive tariffs for solar PV energy, set at Dh4.97 fils/kWh (USD 1.35 cents/kWh) on a levelised cost of electricity, LCOE, basis. Upon full commercial operation, the plant is expected to reduce Abu Dhabi’s CO2 emissions by more than 2.4 million metric tonnes per year, equivalent to removing approximately 470,000 cars from the road.
Once fully operational, the plant will increase Abu Dhabi’s solar power capacity to approximately 3.2 GW.
The Al Dhafra Solar PV project is expected to provide approximately 160,000 households across the UAE with electricity. It will be larger than Taqa’s existing 1.2 GW ‘Noor Abu Dhabi’ solar plant, which is currently the world’s largest operational single-project solar PV plant.
“We are excited to be working with them to realise the world’s largest single-site solar power plant in Abu Dhabi, building on our existing portfolio of world-class projects in the UAE, including Shams in Madinat Zayed in Abu Dhabi, and the third phase of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.
Through this project, 60 percent will be owned by a consortium comprising Taqa and Masdar, while the remaining 40 percent will be owned by EDF and JinkoPower. The project’s financial closure is expected to occur in Q3 2020, enabling initial power generation in H1 2022 and full generation by H2 2022. Once fully operational, the plant will increase Abu Dhabi’s solar power capacity to approximately 3.2 GW, the press release said.
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