Construction on the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site concentrated solar power (CSP) project in the world is progressing ahead of schedule. The news was announced by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, CEO and MD of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), who recently inspected the project. The fourth phase will provide clean energy for 320,000 residences and will reduce 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Monumental Construction of Solar Park
First announced in 2012, the solar park is scheduled to be completed in 2030, Phases one and two, which are already complete, comprising of over two million photovoltaic panels with a capacity of 213 megawatts. Phase three, almost near completion will, add over three million photovoltaics and another 800 megawatts, and will be completed in the year 2020,
Initiated in 2018, the base of the tallest CSP tower has just finished. It will use heliostats (mirror-like device) to focus sunlight at the top of the tower. Here, the tower will use the directed heat to generate electricity by powering steam turbines and it can even store the heat Practically, this means that the CSP tower can continue to create electricity even without the sun as it can store heat for 15 hours.
The project which has an estimated cost of AED 15.8 billion has a total capacity of 950MW and could power as many as 1.3 million homes, reducing annual carbon emissions by 6.5 million tonnes. The building of the fourth phase of the solar park is possible through Noor Energy 1. a joint venture formed between DEWA, ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia) and Silk Road Fund (China) to build the fourth phase of the Park.
Construction Boom in Dubai
UAE has been riding a boom in the construction sector for years, which is especially prevalent in the construction sector in Dubai. Growth in this sector has been prevalent due to Expo 2020. Furthermore, a new report, by Reseach and Market, states that post Expo 2020, there would be steady growth due to new initiatives launched by the Government of the UAE. The report also states that Dubai, due to its long list of proposed and current mega projects has enough work for the next decade in the construction sector.
The UAE is committed in its switch to sustainable energy as it aims to produce 24 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2021. At the end of the last year, the World Bank released a report detailing the policies for sustainable energy in several countries across the world. The report gave a special mention to the UAE, Egypt and Tunisia as they were among the world's fastest developers in renewable energy between 2010 and 2017.
This commitment by the UAE Government will lead to more construction projects at least until the foreseeable future. The objective of the UAE government to switch to energy from renewable sources will also boost the rush of various companies into the UAE. Hence due to all the reasons mentioned, it is very profitable to start a construction business in the UAE or any.
