The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) expects to wrap up details of its first solar power contract by the end of March – and to put a second project out to tender by this time next year.
In September a consortium led by Marubeni of Japan and Jinko Solar of China submitted the lowest bid for the emirate’s first solar project, a 350 megawatts photovoltaic (PV) plant in Sweihan.
“There will be other solar PV opportunities but it’s important that we get the template right for Sweihan,” Charlie Seymour, a financial adviser for Adwea, said in an interview on Tuesday at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. “I think we will be looking to go to market with a new project within the next 12 months.”
Adwea had received six bids for the Sweihan plant, with Marubeni and Jinko bidding 2.42 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), which is now the world’s lowest, beating the previous record of 2.91 cents set in August for a solar plant in Chile.
“Our schedule is to conclude all arrangements by the end of March, but the PPA [power purchase agreement] we anticipate in the middle of February,” Mr Seymour said.
The Sweihan plant is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2019, Mr Seymour said, and down the road the emirate expects to build bigger solar plants.
“We are now in negotiations with our first ranked bidder [for Sweihan solar PV project],” said Aisha Al Mansoori, an engineer at the generation directorate of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company, a unit of Adwea.
“We are negotiating our power purchase agreement, all the shareholders, all the documents (that need to be) put in place to fully award and go ahead to implement the project and reach project completion.”
Solar power is gaining importance under the UAE Energy Plan 2050. The plan aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 70 per cent, increase clean energy use by 50 per cent and improve energy efficiency by 40 per cent, resulting in savings of Dh700 billion between now and mid-century.
The plan’s targets for energy sources for local consumption by 2050 have been set at 44 per cent renewable, 38 per cent gas, 12 per cent clean fossil fuels and 6 per cent nuclear energy. At the moment, more than 90 per cent of the country’s energy needs are met by natural gas.
The country is spending Dh600 billion over the next 33 years, equating to annual spending of about Dh18bn, to integrate renewable, nuclear and clean fossil energy. Prominent in the country’s renewable energy plans is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, which is being built in Dubai at a cost of Dh50bn. It is to be the largest single-site solar project in the world with a planned capacity by 2030 of 5 gigawatts – enough to power 800,000 homes.
Abu Dhabi’s installed power-generating capacity is 14.5GW, with demand for power growing by 3 to 5 per cent a year. Abu Dhabi is banking on using gas, nuclear energy and solar to meet its energy demand. The emirate is building the region’s first nuclear power plants, which are to have an installed capacity 5.6GW by 2020. It has no plans for coal.
“Solar PV is very important because of the economics of saving expensive gas at peak demand,” said Mr Seymour.
Abu Dhabi has no plans for concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. CSP comes with storage, which allows the solar power to be fed into a grid even when the sun is not shining. But this also means that CSP is more expensive than PV, which has a quicker installation time because it has fewer moving parts.
“If the market for CSP dropped dramatically and they become cheaper than PV then we go for whatever is economically driven and meets our security and supply standards,” said Ms Al Mansoori.
dalsaadi@thenational.ae
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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