Abengoa has bagged a contract of around $650m from Shanghai Electric Group for the design, construction and commissioning of concentrated solar power (CSP) solar technology and solar field of the 600MW parabolic trough CSP project in Dubai.
Ground breaking ceremony of 700MW CSP project in Dubai. Photo: courtesy of AETOSWire.
Comprising three CSP plants, each of 200MW, the parabolic basin complex along with a 100MW solar tower is a part of phase 4 of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.
The solar field to be constructed by Abengoa for the three plants spans around 28km2.
Abengoa, which will deliver the CSP technology, will be the major subcontractor of the solar field on lump sum turnkey basis for Shanghai Electric, which in turn is the main contractor.
Abengoa, in a statement, said: “This is the second CSP solar project that Abengoa undertakes in the Arab Emirates and serves to reaffirm the market’s confidence in Abengoa as a leader in developing solar thermal plants worldwide, having an installed global capacity which exceeds 2.3 GW, over 30 % of the world’s total capacity installed.
“Abengoa, thanks to this new project, reinforces its position as a benchmark EPC company in Asia and the Middle East.”
The 700MW CSP project, made up of the parabolic basin complex and the solar tower, is being developed by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Arabian Company for Water and Power Project (ACWA Power) with an investment of AED14.2bn ($3.8bn).
It was during last month that Shanghai Electric was given the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract of the CSP project by ACWA Power.
Slated to begin operations during the fourth quarter of 2020, the CSP facility will produce enough electricity to meet the power consumption needs of 270,000 homes. At the same time, the facility will help Dubai in offsetting 1.4 million tons of CO2 emissions annually.
Upon its commissioning, the CSP plant, based on the independent power producer (IPP) model, will sell the power it generates at a rate of $0.073 per kilowatt hour (kW/h).