Dubai 200 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) tower project, as The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced, received bids from four consortiums yesterday on June 5. The project witnessed the lowest price of USD 9.45 cents/kWh, which was submitted by ACWA consortium, nearly 40% below the previous world-record low price for electricity generated from this technology. The three other bids ranged from USD 10.58 to 17.35 cents per kWh.

DEWA will now review the bid submissions with technical and commercial proposals and determine the winner in one month by July. With a minimum eight hours storage, the project is expected online by April 2021.

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As the first commercial CSP tower solar project in United Arab Emirates (UAE), the 200MW project is under the 4th phase of the Emirate's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park, which will have a total capacity of 1GW by 2020, and 5GW till 2030, in line with Dubai's clean energy strategy of generating 75% of electricity from clean energy by 2050.

The MBR Park is the biggest single-site solar park in the world that is based on the IPP model. Currently the solar park is generating 213MW of PV power, with another 800MW under construction (operational by 2020). The 4th phase 200MW tower project is the first out of the planned total of 1GW using CSP technology.

As Saeed Al Tayer, MD&CEO of DEWA said,“The UAE's focus on renewable energy generation has led to a drop in prices worldwide and has lowered the price of solar and wind power bids in Europe and the Middle East.”

Deep discussions on the project and UAE's CSP market will be among the key topics during CSP Focus MENA 2017 conference on Sept.13-14 in Dubai. SAVE USD400 by registering before June 15. Click to get the event brochure.