Abu Dhabi will reportedly have the cheapest solar farm ever built, which goes nicely next to the world’s largest solar PV farm. The United Arab Emirates, of which Abu Dhabi is the capital, is no stranger to solar price records. The UAE’s other major city, Dubai, set the low-solar-PV-price record in January 2015 at what was then a shocking 5.98¢/kWh, then did so again in 2016 at 2.99¢/kWh. Dubai also set a low-price record for concentrated solar power (CSP), at just 7.3¢/kWh. The new low-PV bid chosen by Abu Dhabi’s public electric utility will bring down the cost of solar power to just 1.35¢/kWh.
The UAE is in a perfect position to capitalize on solar power, since it has abundant sunshine and flat empty stretches of desert. That said, there is a lot of dust that needs to be dealt with. Aside from natural solar resources, the country is rich from an abundance of oil and gas. It’s good to see that money being reinvested in clean solar power.
Abu Dhabi Power Corporation (ADPower) shares that the power plant will create enough electricity for 160,000 homes in Abu Dhabi. This solar farm will add onto a 1.2 gigawatt solar farm in the solar farm noted at the top, the world’s largest, as well as some smaller ones.
“This will reduce the Emirate’s CO2 emissions by more than 3.6 million metric tons per year — equal to removing around 720,000 cars from the road — improving efficiency and driving sustainability while catering for the growth in demand across the [UAE],” ADPower noted in a statement.
This solar power plant is cheapest in the world not by chance. Abu Dhabi has supported the growing solar power market as a whole and helps to ensure low-cost financing. When you have a government financially supporting the advancement of technology, you can see just how much that helps. We need cooperation from our governments worldwide if we are going to fully embrace the transition to renewable and sustainable energy.
