The Masdar initiative in Abu Dhabi has enlisted the help, expertise and investment of the bidding consortium of energy company Total and Abengoa Solar to collaborate on the construction of the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant. The 100MW plant will be located in Madinat Zayed, southwest of Abu Dhabi, and will be known as Shams 1.
Encompassing an area of 2.5 km2, the new plant will be kitted out with 768 of Abengoa’s parabolic trough collectors. Masdar will be the major partner at 60%, and together with Total and Abengoa, will build, operate and own the new plant, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East.
Work will commence on the project in the third quarter 2010, and is scheduled for completion in two years’ time. Shams 1 is registered as a project under the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and is thus eligible for carbon credits.