The 900 megawatts (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) Phase 5 of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park has achieved 89 percent completion rate with the commissioning of new 200 MW capacity.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced on Monday that 800MW of the fifth phase has been commissioned, bringing the solar park’s current production capacity to 2,327 MW, according to a DEWA press statement.

The 200MW milestone increases the share of clean energy in Dubai’s total electricity production capacity to about 15.7 percent, the statement noted.

Dubai’s total power production capacity stand at 14,817MW.

The fifth phase, which is being developed at a total cost of $560 million using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, will provide clean energy to over 270,000 residences in Dubai and will reduce 1.18 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

DEWA had received a world record levelised cost of energy (LCOE) bid of 1.6953 US cents/kWh for the fifth phase from the consortium of ACWA Power and Gulf Investment Corporation.

China’s Shanghai Electric was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Phase 5 in July 2020.

In March 2023, DEWA had convened local and international developers for a briefing on the 1,800MW solar PV Phase 6 of the Solar Park, which was first slated to have a capacity of 900MW. Phase 6 will become operational in stages between 2024 and 2026.

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)