Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) said on Sunday it has started to construct a key substation which will power the AED30 billion ($8.16 billion) Mohammed bin Rashid City.
The 400kv main substation will provide electricity to the urban, mixed-use, leisure and sports development which will span more than 54 million square feet, which is scheduled for completion in 2018-19.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of DEWA, said a consultant has been appointed “to prepare the specifications and plans of the substation and to prepare documents of the tender that will be put out to contractors”.
He said: “According to the construction plan, the substation will be commissioned by 2017 to connect the second project of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which will produce 100 megawatt to provide electricity to Mohammed Bin Rashid City and other areas.
“In the future, other projects of the solar park that will be implemented will be connected to this substation,” he added.
The first phase of Dubai’s $3.3bn solar park will be in operation by the end of 2013, Al Tayer said in September.
It will have a 1,000MW capacity by 2030, and, upon completion, will be one of the biggest solar parks in the region.
By 2030 Dubai aims to have diversified its fuel mix by adding new energy sources such as 12 percent from clean coal, five percent from renewable energy including solar power, 12 percent from nuclear power and 71 percent from gas.
DEWA awarded a contract earlier this year to ILF Consulting Engineers to provide consultancy services for the solar park, which is to be built on a 48sqm area.
Dubai, the largest sheikhdom in the UAE after Abu Dhabi, is seeking to diversify sources of electricity and improve energy efficiency to ensure long-term supplies.
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