Dubai's DEWA to issue tender for desert solar park as demand climbs

Dubai Electricity & Power Authority, the sole utility in the UAE emirate, plans to issue a tender for the sixth phase of the giant solar park in the desert as power demand continues to climb, CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said Sept. 13.

The fifth phase currently underway will add 900 MW, but Tayer declined to reveal the size of the sixth phase. The solar park aims to provide 75% of Dubai's total power capacity from clean energy by 2050, from about 13% by the end of 2021. By 2030, Dubai aims to have an energy mix of 25% solar, 7% nuclear power, 7% from "clean coal" and 61% from natural gas. Tayer declined to comment when asked if coal was still feasible.

DEWA met a 10% increase in power demand in the first half this year from a year earlier, Tayer told reporters at a press conference in Dubai.

DEWA's green hydrogen pilot, being conducted at the solar park, will probably take a year to study and so far results are "very successful", but hydrogen is still "very expensive", he said. The project will produce about 300 kW of power from solar energy.

"It's in feasibility but it is working," he said. Hydrogen's use in public transportation is also being considered, he said.