State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has issued an expressions of interest notice for potential development partners for the next phase of Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park project.

The planned seventh phase of MBR Solar Park will include a 1,600MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and a 1,000MW battery energy storage system (bess) plant, providing up to six hours of storage.

Dewa has asked firms to express their interest in participating in the tender by 21 March.

The project is expected to be commissioned in phases, starting in August 2027.

In January, Dewa selected a transaction advisory team for the project. A team comprising UK-headquartered Deloitte and US-based CMS and Sargent & Lundy won the financial, legal and technical advisory package for the project, with Deloitte acting as lead adviser.

An estimated 1,913MW of solar PV capacity and 950MW of hybrid solar PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) capacity from the MBR solar park are now connected to the grid.

A further 1,800MW of capacity for the project’s sixth phase is under construction.

Source: Dewa

In February last year, Dewa and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) reached financial close for the 1,800MW sixth phase of MBR Solar Park, which is expected to cost up to AED5.51bn ($1.5bn).

Once completed in 2026, the sixth phase will increase the solar park’s total production capacity to 4,660MW.

Located in Saih Al-Dahal, on the outskirts of Dubai, the construction status of the phases of the MBR Solar Park project are as follows:

• 13MW solar PV phase one: Completed in 2013
• 200MW solar PV phase two: Commissioned in 2017
• 800MW solar PV phase three: Commissioned in 2020
• 950MW hybrid CSP/solar PV phase four: Inaugurated in 2023
• 900MW solar PV phase five: Commissioned in 2023
• 1,800MW solar PV phase six: Under construction

The state utility aims for clean energy sources to deliver about 27% of its generation mix by 2030.

Dewa’s electricity installed capacity reached 16,270MW by the end of 2023.