Billion dollar solar plant in Dubai

A consortium of Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and Spain's TSK has won a bid to build a 1.2 billion dirhams (USD327 million) solar power plant in Dubai, as the emirate looks to diversify to meet its growing energy needs.

Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) chief executive, said that the capacity of Phase 2 of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park would be increased to 200 megawatts from the previous target of 100 MW.

The full Solar Park scheme will have a capacity of 1,000 MW by 2030 at a build cost of 12 billion dirhams, helping Dubai achieve its target of 5 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The solar project is expected to be completed in April 2017.Funding will be 86 percent through bank loans, and the rest equity funded on a 51/49 percent split by DEWA and the consortium.