Bidders revealed for Dubai 800 MW solar tender

Dubai's state utility company has recently said that around twenty international consortia have submitted bids for the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park Phase III.

The tender for the project has attracted solar heavyweights such as: Engie-Marubeni, SunEdison, ACWA Power, EDF-Nebras, Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV)-Masdar, Al-Fanar-Building Energy, Jinko Solar-RWE, REC Solar-Viverdis, M+W & Stumpf Energy, Tetratech and Acciona-Swicorp.

The winner is likely to be announced early next year.

DEWA said it has set very stringent qualification criteria for this 800MW tender, both technical and financial, adding that it is expected to take a 60 percent share in the project company. Whereas 49 companies submitted documents for last year's Phase 2 tender, it is believed that around 20 companies have submitted responses for the Phase 3 tender.

The 800 MW project, based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, is another landmark project that will make Dubai and the UAE a regional leader in producing renewable and clean energy. The project will be located about 50 km south of the city of Dubai.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is one of the largest renewable energy projects in the region, with a planned production capacity of 3,000MW by 2030.

DEWA has also plans to boos the electricity produced from medium and small solar energy systems. This is done by installing photovoltaic (PV) panels on rooftops of buildings and connected to DEWA's grid as part of its Shams Dubai initiative.