UAE awards low-tariff solar project to TAQA, Masdar, EDF, JinkoPower

Dubai — The UAE's Emirates Water and Electricity Co. awarded a consortium including France's EDF Renewables and China's JinkoPower the country's biggest solar project that achieved one of the world's lowest electricity tariffs of 1.35 US cents/kWh.

The consortium led by the UAE's energy company TAQA and clean energy firm Masdar will develop a 2 GW solar photovoltaic independent power producer project in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, EWEC said July 26 in a statement. EWEC is a unit of ADQ, an Abu Dhabi conglomerate that holds stakes in several companies including TAQA.

EWEC, which received five bids in November 2019 for the solar project, didn't disclose the value of the project.

TAQA and Masdar will own 60% of the project with the remainder held by EDF and JinkoPower. The project, which will achieve financial close by the third quarter of 2020, will start production in the first half of 2022 and reach full generation in the second half of that year. It will boost Abu Dhabi's solar power capacity to around 3.2 GW.

Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich emirate of the seven-member UAE federation, plans to generate 50% of its power needs from renewable and clean energy sources by 2030, as well as reduce the generation system's average cargo intensity by 70% compared with 2015.

Abu Dhabi, which pumps most of the UAE's crude, said in February it was loading fuel in preparation for the start-up of the UAE's first nuclear power plant as part of plans to diversify power generation sources.

Once all four nuclear reactors are up and running, the plants will supply up to 25% of the UAE's electricity needs or 5.6 GW.

Dubai, the second-largest UAE emirate, is building a 5 GW solar park at an estimated investment of Dirhams 50 billion ($13.6 billion) by 2030.

The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 aims to provide 25% of its power from clean energy by 2030 and 75% by 2050 mostly through solar CSP and PV projects.

The UAE currently relies mostly on gas for power and water generation. It is adding renewable energy and nuclear power to its energy mix as it frees up gas for consumption in industries and other sectors.