SOLAR ENERGY IN UAE

Solar power in the United Arab Emirates has the potential to

provide most of the country's electricity demand. [ While being a
major oil producing country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
has taken steps to introduce solar power on a large scale.
However, solar power still accounts for a small share of energy
production in the country. The country was the 6th top carbon
dioxide emitter per capita in the world in 2009, with 40.31 tonnes, but is planning to generate
half of its electrical energy by 2050 from solar and nuclear sources, targeting 44%
renewables, 38% gas, 12% coal, and 6% nuclear energy sources

Abu Dhabi

In 2013, the Shams solar power station, a 100-megawatt (MW) concentrated solar

power (CSP) plant near Abu Dhabi became operational. The US$600 million Shams 1 is the
largest CSP plant outside the United States and Spain and is expected to be followed by two
more stations, Shams 2 and Shams 3.
Masdar City in Abu Dhabi was designed to be the most
environmentally sustainable city in the world. Power is
generated by a 10 MW solar PV power plant located on site
and 1 MW of rooftop solar panels. Originally planned to
have all rooftop panels, it was found easier to clean the
sand off ground mounted panels at a single location. It Is
located on Abu Dhabi.
In 2020 the 2 GW Al Dhafra Solar project was announced
by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. A consortium led by France's EDF and
China's Jinko Solar will build the 20 square kilometers (7.7 sq mi) PV plant in the Al Dhafra
region, about 35km south of Abu Dhabi City, using bifacial (dual-sided) crystalline
technology. It will offer the lowest solar energy tariff in the world - AED4.97 fills/kWh (US1.35
cents/kWh). It is due to be commissioned in 2022

Dubai
The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy aims to provide 7 per cent of Dubai's energy from clean
energy sources by 2020. It will increase this target to 25 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by
205. Due to a variety of factors, a Saudi-backed consortium had a low bid to build the solar
farm in Dubai for only 3¢/kWh.
The first phase of the proposed 1,000 MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park,
in Saih Al-DahAl, about 50 kilometers south of the city of Dubai, was the 13-megawatt (DC)
solar farm (DEWA 13) that had been constructed by First Solar in 2013. It uses 152,880 FS-385
black CdTe modules and generates about 24 gigawatt-hours per year.
The second phase is a 200 MW (260 MW) photovoltaic plant built at a cost of US$320 million
by a consortium led by ACWA Power and Spanish company TSK. The second phase was
scheduled to be commissioned by April 2017. It was completed ahead of time, and
commissioned on 22 March 2017. TSK served as the primary contractor for the project, while
ACWA Power will operate the plant. The phase includes 2.3 million photovoltaic solar panels
spread over an area of 4.5 km2. ACWA Power secured a 27-year debt financing loan worth
$344 million from the First Gulf Bank, the National Commercial Bank and the Samba Financial
Group. The plant uses First Solar's CdTe modules.
In April 2015, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) publicly announced the third
phase of 800 MW, along with Dubai's revised target to increase the share of renewables on
the energy mix to 7% by 2020.