Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power submitted a tariff of just 1.6953 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the 900MW fifth phase of Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park, according to a report by the Middle East Economic Digest. That sets a new record for unsubsidized solar PV production, in the region at least. However, it is still a little way short of the 1.654 cents/kWh achieved in Portugal earlier this year.
The Dubai authorities have delighted in repeatedly setting new records for previous phases of the MBR Solar Park and they may be disappointed to have fallen just short this time. A carefully-worded statement from the government-owned utility, DEWA, earlier this week claimed they had, however, set a new world record for a PV solar plant based on the independent power producer (IPP) model.
![A field of solar photovoltaic panels that form part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park in Dubai, ... [+]DOMINIC DUDLEY](https://www.world-energy.org/uploadfile/2019/1018/20191018084515275.jpg)
Today In: BusinessThe MBR Solar Park is designed to be the largest single-site solar power facility in the world and will have a total capacity of 5GW by 2030. It is only four years since it was set up, but its short history shows just how quickly solar energy prices have tumbled.
In 2015 the first phase of the facility was launched, with a 200MW PV solar plant developed for a then-record tariff of 5.85 cents/kWh. A new record was set for the second, 200MW phase at 5.6 cents/kWh. In June 2016, that benchmark was beaten for the 800MW third phase, with a price of 2.99 cents/kWh – the first time a solar project had come in under 3 cents/kWh.
