PROJECT INTRODUCTION
Noor Energy 1 PSC will be implementing the 4th phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park, which is a 700MW CSP +250 MW PV Project. The Project will be the largest single-site concentrated solar power plant in the world. It has also witness a new world record of levelised cost of electricity at US $7.3 cents per kilowatt-hour; a cost level that competes with fossil fuel generated electricity without subsidy for reliable and dispatchable solar energy through the night. The technology used includes a combination of the world’s largest solar tower at 260 meters (100MW), parabolic trough concentrated solar power technologies to collect energy from the sun (600MW split in 200MW for each unit), and bifacial photovoltaic (250 MW).
The project supports the Dubai Clean Strategy to increase the share of clean energy at Dubai to 25% by 2030 as well as allowing a saving 2.4 Million tons of CO2.
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) awarded a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract for the 700MW Noor Energy 1 CSP plant to a consortium of ACWA Power and Shanghai Electric in September 2017. The contract included a 35-year power purchase agreement, under which DEWA will off-take electricity from the independent power producer (IPP) project at $7.30 cents per KWh, a price competitive with fossil fuel-based power generation. The ACWA-led consortium (49%) together with DEWA (51%) formed the project company Noor Energy 1 to design, build, and operate the plant, in the same year. DEWA and ACWA power signed an amendment to increase the plant’s generating capacity to 950MW by adding a 250MW PV facility, in November 2018. ACWA Power signed a co-operation agreement with ICBC, Shanghai Electric, and Abengoa for the 950MW solar power facility in the same month.
The Noor Energy 1 hybrid solar facility will comprise a solar tower capable of generating 100MW, three sets of parabolic trough arrays of 200MW capacity each, and an array of PV solar panels of 250MW generating capacity. It will be one of the world’s first energy facilities to use a combination of three different solar power technologies. The solar tower, standing 260m-high at the center of the plant site, will also be the world’s tallest solar tower. The Noor Energy 1 solar complex will also possess energy storage capacity for 15 hours and be capable of delivering power 24 hours a day.
Partnership
ACWA Power, with 24.99% equity stake in Noor Energy 1, will lead the project development. NOMAC, a subsidiary of ACWA Power, will be responsible for the operation and maintenance solar plant. Shanghai Electric is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, while ICBC is the financial partner for the project. Abengoa will be the key technology provider for the hybrid solar power facility. Advisian, a subsidiary of WorleyParsons, was appointed as the owner’s engineer for the Noor Energy 1 power plant, in July 2018.
