Acwa Power submits low tariff for 100MW Dubai solar scheme

A total of 10 prequalified groups submitted bids on 20 November

Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power International has submitted the lowest tariff price for Dubai’s 100MW photovoltaic (PV) solar independent power plant (IPP).

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) received bids from 10 of the 24 prequalified consortiums on 20 November. The 100MW PV plant is the second phase of the emirate’s Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park development.

Acwa Power submitted the low tariff of 5.98 cents a kilowatt hour (kWh), which was 2.5 per cent lower than the second-lowest bid of 6.13 cents a kWh submitted by a consortium of Spain’s Fotowatio Renewables and Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel.

The third-placed tariff of 8.24 cents a kWh was submitted by Abu Dhabi’s Masdar and Spain’s Isolux Corsan.

The highest tariff submitted was 14.7 cents a kWh from a consortium of China’s Huaneng Power and Singapore’s Tuas Power.

The other bidders and their tariffs were:

·         First Solar (US) / Corys Environment (UAE) – 8.56 cents a kWh;

·         Hareon Swiss Holding (Switzerland) / China State Construction Engineering Corporation (China) – 8.98 cents a kWh;

·         EDF Energies Nouvelles (France) – 9.115 cents a kWh;

·         NRG Renew (US) / Saudi Oger (Saudi Arabia) – 11.01 cents a kWh.

The 100MW second phase will, like the 13MW first phase, use photovoltaic (PV) solar technology. However, while the first phase was built using a standard engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, the second phase is being developed through an IPP model.

MEED reported in March that Dewa had appointed theNetherlands’ KPMG as financial adviser and the UK’s Norton Rose Fulbright as legal adviser for the IPP.

The 13MW first phase of the solar park began operation on 22 October 2013. It is the largest operating PV solar plant in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, and will generate 24 million kWh of electricity a year. The project is powered by 152,880 photocell PV modules, connected to 13 step-up transformers. US-based First Solar was awarded the estimated AED124m ($34m) contract to build the first phase of the park in October 2012.

When completed, the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park is planned to have a total capacity of 1,000MW. The park is scheduled to contribute 5 per cent of Dubai’s power generation capacity by 2030, as part of the emirate’s integrated energy strategy. The scheme is under the umbrella of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and is operated by Dewa. The solar park is expected to receive AED12bn of investment by 2030.