China's state-run Silk Road Fund has acquired a 24.01% equity interest in the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The 700 MW project broke ground in March 2018 and is being built by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) in collaboration with a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Shanghai Electric. The consortium bid the lowest Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of US$7.3c/kWh and the total amount of the current contract reaches Dhr14.2bn (about US$3.9bn).
The Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park project is a giant solar PV and CSP project developed by DEWA. The first phase of 13 MW was commissioned in 2013 and the second phase of 200 MW followed in March 2017. The third phase of 800 MW is expected over 2018-2020 (progressive completion of three stages, with the first 200 MW phase commissioned in May 2018). The capacity should then reach 1 000 MW by 2020 and may be raised to 5 000 MW by 2030, making it the largest solar park in the world.