Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park

Project Overview

Phase I of the landmark Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park represents the first stage of Dubai’s energy diversification strategy.The cornerstone of an ambitious plan to generate as much as 1 Gigawatt (GW) of the emirate’s electricity from sunlight, the plant was, at the time of its inauguration in October 2013, the largest facility of its kind in the region.

Given its scale and location, the plant was recognized as having established new benchmarks for the development of utility-scale solar power plants in the region. It is also a showpiece of First Solar’s industry-leading EPC and technological capabilities.

Covering an area of 59 acres or 238,764 square meters - sufficient to accommodate approximately 33 soccer pitches – the facility was completed on schedule, in less than 30 weeks from groundbreaking to grid-connection. The project had a workforce of 1,280 personnel at its peak and required more than 1.4 million man-hours to complete, all of which were accident-free. Importantly, First Solar spent fifty percent of the project’s cost in the UAE, demonstrating how solar energy can contribute to local businesses.

Since its completion, the plant has seamlessly been integrated into the emirate’s electricity grid and continues to ratify the suitability of First Solar’s thin film module technology to the Middle East and North Africa region’s environmental conditions. This consistently reliable performance in actual hot, humid weather and high soiling conditions, played a significant role in Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) being specified as the technology of choice for the plant.

Project Benefits

Powered by 152,880 FS Series 3 Black modules, the plant will generate approximately 24 million kilowatt hours of clean solar electricity per year. The project was implemented by Dubai’s Supreme Council of Energy and is managed and operated by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the state-owned power company. First Solar was also selected to provide Operations and Maintenance (O&M) services.