First Solar has signed an agreement to supply modules for the 200MW second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai.
The plant will use 2.36 million First Solar modules over 450 hectares. The first 13MW phase of the park used 152,880 First Solar modules.
A consortium led by Saudi-based energy developer ACWA Power and Spanish engineering and construction company TSK was selected earlier this year by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) to develop, construct, own and operate the IPP project. It won the tender process with a bid of US$0.0584/kWh, thought to be the lowest cost per unit of solar electricity ever. The consortium claimed this reduced the cost of solar electricity by over 20%.
Once completed in early 2017, the project will be the largest PV plant in the Middle East, producing enough power for 30,000 homes in the United Arab Emirates.
Ahmed S. Nada, vice president and region executive for the Middle East at First Solar, said: “This project's impact on the global energy transition cannot be overstated. It has effectively driven down the cost of solar electricity, marking a new milestone in solar PV's evolution as a mainstream energy resource.”
First Solar modules are also due to be installed at the 52.5MW Shams Ma'an solar PV plant, currently under construction in Jordan and scheduled for completion in the second half of 2016.
Last month another consortium led by ACWA Power, including Spanish technology company Sener, achieved financial close of the 200MW NOORo II and 150MW NOORo III concentrated solar power (CSP) projects in Morocco.