Abu Dhabi Project Sets New Low Price Record with 1.35¢/kWh for Utility-Scale Solar

Utility-scale solar has hit another absurdly low price threshold, with a consortium of four companies offering a tariff price of US1.35¢ per kilowatt hour for the two-gigawatt Al Dhafra solar farm in Abu Dhabi.

The consortium includes Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Masdar, JinkoPower, and EDF Renewables, PV Tech reports. EDF, a unit of French utility Électricité de France, said the project will use “the latest in crystalline, bifacial solar technology”, boosting efficiency in a desert setting that already benefits from high solar irradiation.

“Al Dhafra will feature some 3.2 million solar panels once complete and is expected to enter an initial generation phase in the first half of 2022, followed by full commercial operation in the second half,” the industry news site states. “It will be owned 60% by a sub-consortium comprising Masdar and TAQA, and 40% by EDF and JinkoPower.”

Emirates Water and Electric Company CEO Othman Al Ali said the project will have a “significant impact” in diversifying the country’s approach to electricity supply.

JinkoPower international president Charles Bai called the United Arab Emirates “an attractive environment for investors” that “underpins our strategy to continue investing in renewable energy projects in the UAE. The Al Dhafra Solar PV project raises the bar in the energy sector, and also sets the foundation to demonstrate how new records can be made.”