Al-Dhafra solar plant to become world's largest

The Al-Dhafra solar photovoltaic plant will be the largest in the world once its development process has been completed, according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office. This facility will also offer the lowest price for energy supply on the planet.

The infrastructure located in the north of the emirate of Abu Dhabi "will become the largest in the world, with twice the size of the existing Noor Abu Dhabi plant of the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC)," the emirate's Media Office said on Twitter. 

Once completed, the solar plant will generate two gigawatts of power, equivalent to the energy supply of some 160,000 homes. In addition, it will reduce the emirate's CO2 emissions by more than 2.4 million metric tons per year, similar to the elimination of 470,000 cars and their associated pollutant emissions. 

"EWEC's subsidiary also confirmed through its website that it had received five technical and commercial bids to finance, build, operate and maintain the Al-Dhafra solar photovoltaic project in Abu Dhabi," the tweet added. 

Finally, a partnership formed by the French energy company EDF and the project division of the Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar has appeared as the favorite for the latest solar auction in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi has set a record for solar energy prices as the authorities confirmed the winning bid in a two-Gigawatt tender. According to EcoInventos, the project is expected to be completed by mid-2022 and will be the largest solar energy project in the world, according to the emirate's Media Office. 

The Al-Dhafra project had five bidders and the lowest bid was 1.35 cents per kilowatt hour.

Abu Dhabi Power Corporation (ADPower) will now negotiate a 30-year power purchase agreement with the Franco-Chinese consortium. If a deal cannot be reached, ADPower, part of EWEC, will be able to negotiate with the second highest bidder.

French public corporation Engie, Japan's Softbank and Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power, which has won a number of major projects in the Middle East, were among the last five pre-selected bidders.

Prices for solar energy are very low in the Middle East due to the large resources linked to the source of the sun and the large flat areas arranged at low cost for building solar plants. The Gulf States have had record solar prices recently. Now it seems that Abu Dhabi will take this honour away from Qatar, which has held the brand since January with an offer of 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour through a project by the French oil company Total and the Japanese group Marubeni.

This initiative is a further step on United Arab Emirates (UAE)' commitment to global efforts for the increased implementation of environmentally friendly renewable and clean energy. Gradually moving away from the area's historical dependence on financial revenues from oil and gas production. 

Already last February another episode of the UAE's progress in implementing clean energy sources was highlighted. The first floating solar power plant in the Emirates began producing electricity on the small tourist island of Nurai, according to Atalayar and the Gulf Post Office. This pilot installation, which has a capacity of only 80 kilowatts, will serve as a guide for different projects along the same lines.

The artificial islands of Dubai will benefit in this case from floating solar energy as a way of generating low-carbon electricity without sacrificing the beach sands, as explained by Stefan Muckstein, director of operations of the Enerwhere company, which materialized this project. Muckstein himself also noted that installing and maintaining solar energy panels at sea is very costly, almost three times more than on land.

Precisely, the UAE hosted the World Energy Congress last September, which reflects the importance that the Emirate gives to the energy sector. A nation that is committed to significant evolution in this field, through the projects planned for the generation of solar and renewable energy, and with the development of a large civil nuclear energy programme, whose great banner is the Barakah Power Plant, which is already a world reference in the implementation of new nuclear plants.