Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has received 30 Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the 200 megawatt (MW) concentrated solar power (CSP) Plant, constituting Phase Four of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site strategic solar energy project of its kind in the world, based on the independent power producer (IPP) model. The 13-MW first phase became operational in 2013.

The 200-MW second phase of the Solar Park will be operational by 2017. In June 2016, Dewa announced that the Masdar-led consortium was the selected bidder for the 800-MW third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, to be completed by 2020, based on the IPP model, after getting a levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) of 2.99 cents per kilowatt hour (kW/h).

The total capacity of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will reach 1,000 MW by 2020, and 5,000 MW by 2030, with total investments of Dh50 billion ($13.6 billion).

“This 200 MW CSP plant will be operational by April 2021, since we intend to continue generating power using CSP technology to reach 1,000 MW by 2020,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa.