UAE's Masdar partners with Total and Abengoa Solar to build world's largest CSP plant in Abu Dhabi

posted on 10/06/2010: 488 views

Masdar, Abu Dhabi's multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions, has appointed the bidding consortium of Total and Abengoa Solar as a partner to own, build and operate Shams 1, the world's largest concentrated solar power plant and the first of its kind in the Middle East.

One of Masdar's flagship projects, Shams 1 will directly contribute towards Abu Dhabi's target of achieving 7% renewable energy power generation capacity by the year 2020.

The joint venture between Masdar (60%), Total (20%) and Abengoa Solar (20%) will develop, build, operate and maintain the plant which will be located in Madinat Zayed, approximately 120 kilometres southwest of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Shams 1 will be the largest concentrated solar power plant in the world, extending over an area of 2.5 km?, with a capacity of approximately 100 MW and a solar field consisting of 768 parabolic trough collectors to be supplied by Abengoa. Construction is set to begin during Q3 and is expected to take approximately two years.

Shams 1 is registered as a project under the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and is eligible for carbon credits. It is be the first CSP plant registered under the CDM and the second project registered for Masdar. The plant will displace approximately 175,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees or removing 15,000 cars from Abu Dhabi's roads. – Emirates News Agency, WAM

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