Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced an agreement to build a solar power plant in Dubai.
The state-owned utility has signed a memorandum of understanding with Swedish energy technology company Cleanergy and construction firm Al-Futtaim Carillion for the installment of the Stirling Engine Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant.
The installation consists of 10 units with a total capacity of 110kW. The permit approval process to install the plant has commenced and the installation is expected to be completed by early 2014, a statement said.
The partnership has been formed to better understand how the CSP technology works in the unique climate conditions of Dubai and to develop a pilot project intended to measure and monitor its performance.
The project will then be used as a learning tool for a more large-scale deployment of solar CSP installations in Dubai to help strengthen the local solar industry, the statement added.
The announcement also forms an important part of the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 to achieve energy diversification by generating 71 percent from gas, 12 percent from nuclear energy, 12 percent from clean coal, and five percent from solar energy.
The strategy also aims to reduce demand for energy by 30 percent in Dubai by 2030.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, said: “This MOU aims to support the long-term national initiative ‘Green Economy For Sustainable development’… [It] is another important step forward in meeting our targets in the solar energy segment and ensuring environmental sustainability by encouraging the use of renewable energy.
“Our long-term plan is to deploy more large-scale solar installations in Dubai and the test plant will function as an important learning tool for this.”
He added: “We spare no effort to support this vital sector, and work hard to enhance reliability of renewable energy through some promising future projects, like Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, whose first project was inaugurated in October 2013, with targeted production capacity of 1000 megawatt by 2030.”
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