UAE taps Masdar to build sixth phase of Al Maktoum solar park: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has selected the UAE’s Masdar to build and operate its 1.8 GW sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park beating Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power for the bid, the Dubai Media Office reports. The full investment ticket for the upcoming phase is AED 5.5 bn (c. USD 1.5 bn), and it is scheduled to become operational in stages between 4Q 2024 and 2026.

The lowest price wins: Masdar’s bid to sell the energy generated by the sixth phase was the lowest bid Dewa has received thus far at USD 0.0162 per kWh, beating Acwa Power’s fifth phase pricing of USD 0.0170 per kWh. Acwa Power’s competing bid for the sixth phase was not disclosed.

The upcoming phase will push total capacity to 4.2 GW: Once the sixth phase is completed, the park’s total production capacity will go from the current 2.4 GW — reached in June after the inauguration of the fifth phase — to 4.2 GW. This leaves 800 MW remaining to complete the world’s largest single-site solar park using the IPP model.

A second play for Masdar: A Masdar-led consortium developed the 800 MW third phase of the solar park in partnership with France's EDF, selling at a price of USD 0.0299 per kWh, which was the lowest price secured by Dewa at the time. Acwa Power is still ahead of Masdar in the number of bids won, having developed the second, fourth, and fifth phases of the park.

IN OTHER MASDAR NEWS- The company is emerging as a risk taker in climate-challenged economies: Masdar’s recent debut green bond issuance will allow it to “tap into a completely new pool of liquidity for greenfield, wind, solar and battery projects…in developing or climate-challenged economies,” CFO Niall Hannigan told S&P Global Commodity Insights in an interview last week. Hannigan stressed that the liquidity would not be subjected to the usual risk of being put into developing economies. "That's us using the green bond and taking money to markets it otherwise would not get to," he said.

And there’s some strategic diversification on deck: It aims to produce 1 mn mt of renewable hydrogen by 2030, first in the UAE under an agreement with France’s Engie and global hubs like Egypt for exports into Europe and cooperation in the continent itself, including BP in the UK. The Gulf represents a “huge market” for the company, with generation capacity for green hydrogen in the UAE and Saudi Arabia covered, Hannigan said. MENA is also a key region of interest, with its joint venture with Infinity Power helping it acquire a platform with projects in Egypt, South Africa, and Senegal, he added.

Battery storage in mind: Masdar is also interested in battery storage projects, targeting 1 GW plus of battery storage through Masdar Arlington, Hannigan said. He revealed that final investment decisions would be made later in 2023 on the company’s first UK battery projects, which upon operations would be managed using Octopus’ Kraken technology platform.