Masdar awarded bid to construct and operate 1,800MW Phase 6 of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park

Masdar's bid of 1.6215 USD cents/kWh sets record for lowest Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) among DEWA's solar projects. Phase 6 to be operational from Q4 2024, contributing to Dubai's clean energy goal

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) have appointed Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) as the preferred bidder to build and operate 1,800-megawatts (MW) Phase 6 of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Masdar had submitted a Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) of 1.6215 USD cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the 5.51 billion UAE dirhams ($1.5 billon) Independent Power Producer (IPP) project powered by solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, a press statement issued by DEWA said.

Phase 6 achieved the lowest LCOE for any of DEWA’s Solar IPP projects so far, the statement noted. For the fifth phase, the DFM-listed utility received an LCOE bid of 1.6953 USD cents/kWh from the ACWA Power-Gulf Investment Corporation consortium.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said Phase 6 will become operational in stages starting from the fourth quarter of 2024.
“The project documents, Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and financial close agreements will be signed in due course,” he said.

In June 2023, DEWA announced that it received bids from Masdar and Saudi-based ACWA Power for the sixth phase.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) was issued on 14 September 2022, followed by a Request for Qualification (RFQ) to 23 interested bidders on 15 November 2022. After completing the qualification process, DEWA issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to seven international bidders on 30 December 2022.

“The share of clean energy in Dubai’s energy mix is about 16.3 percent of its total installed capacity. This percentage will reach 24 percent in 2026 with the completion of the Sixth Phase and the remaining phases under construction of the solar park,” Al Tayer said.

According to the press statement, the total capacity of the solar power projects commissioned at the solar park has reached 2,427MW. The park’s total production capacity will touch 4,660MW once the sixth phase, and another 433MW project currently under construction, are completed.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will have a total capacity of 5,000MW by 2030, with investments totalling AED50 billion. When completed, it will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.