The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park opened in Dubai yesterday and it marks the next step to a greener future for the UAE
Dubai yesterday took the first step on a "long journey" to a greener future, announcing plans for a huge Dhs12 billion solar power project.
At a high-profile launch attended by Dubai Ruler HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emirate's Supreme Council for Energy unveiled details of a massive solar park that will cover 48 sq km of desert.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is to be built to the southeast of Dubai and is part of a strategy to ensure solar power accounts for five per cent of the emirate's energy by 2030. The chairman of the Supreme Council for Energy, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, said that the plans called for the new solar park to produce 1000MW of power by 2020, and that it would be producing 10MW by the end of next year.
The council will foot the Dh120 million bill for the initial stage of the project's development, before hoping to tempt international firms to help expand the park's capacity over the next few years. Council chief executive Najib Zaafrani admitted Dubai authorities would likely have to contribute subsidies to lure foreign firms due to the higher cost of producing solar energy. But Al Tayer said he was hopeful that by the park's completion in 2020, prices for Dubai consumers would have fallen to acceptable levels.
The price of solar energy has already almost halved in less than a decade, he said, from 120 fils per kilowatt in 2004 to 70 fils today. The eye-catching solar plant will be the first of several clean energy projects, Al Tayer added, with Dubai authorities and global consultants hopeful of unveiling a new masterplan within months. Future plans could include the installation of solar panels on rooftops and existing industrial areas such as Jebel Ali Free Zone.
"What we are doing right now is setting the basis for a long journey to introduce renewable energy in Dubai - starting with solar," Nejib Zaafrani concluded.
© 7Days 2012
