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Dewa receives solar park phase seven interest

26 March 2025

 

State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has received expressions of interest (EoIs) from firms for a contract to develop the next phase of Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park project.

MEED understands that firms submitted their responses to Dewa’s EoI request on 21 March.

The planned seventh phase of the MBR Solar Park will include a 1,600MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and a 1,000MW battery energy storage system (bess) plant, providing up to six hours of storage.

Dewa issued the EoI request in February.

The project is expected to be commissioned in phases, starting in August 2027.

In January, Dewa selected a transaction advisory team for the project.

A team comprising UK-headquartered Deloitte and US-based CMS and Sargent & Lundy won the financial, legal and technical advisory package for the project, with Deloitte acting as lead adviser. 

An estimated 2,127MW of solar PV capacity and 500MW of concentrated solar power (CSP) capacity from the MBR Solar Park are now connected to the grid.

A further 1,800MW of capacity for the project’s sixth phase is under construction.

In February last year, Dewa and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) reached financial close for the 1,800MW sixth phase of the MBR Solar Park, which is expected to cost up to AED5.51bn ($1.5bn).

Once completed in 2026, the sixth phase will increase the solar park’s total production capacity to 4,660MW.

Located in Saih Al-Dahal, on the outskirts of Dubai, the construction status of the various phases of the MBR Solar Park project is as follows:

  • 10MW solar PV phase one: Completed in 2013
  • 200MW solar PV phase two: Commissioned in 2017
  • 800MW solar PV phase three: Commissioned in 2020
  • 950MW hybrid CSP/solar PV phase four: Inaugurated in 2023
  • 900MW solar PV phase five: Commissioned in 2023
  • 1,800MW solar PV phase six: Under construction

The state utility aims for clean energy sources to deliver about 27% of its generation mix by 2030, up from roughly 16% in 2023. Natural gas-fuelled power plants account for the rest of Dewa’s known installed capacity. 

Dewa’s electricity installed capacity reached 16,270MW by the end of 2023.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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