Masdar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala investment company, has announced plans to construct the single largest solar power plant in the world. Masdar will collaborate with European firms Total and Abengoa Solar to spend a capital of $600 million on the construction of the plant, which will be located around 75 miles from the city. The power plant will use mirrors to focus the sun’s rays on water tubes to generate steam. As in a conventional turbine, the steam will be used to drive a turbine for power generation.  Masdar will have a 60 per cent stake in the power generation facility, and Total and Abengoa Solar will have 20 per cent each. The power generated from the plant will be sold to the national grid, while the government will provide the company a subsidy on the cost over the mean price from Abu Dhabi’s oil-fired power plants. The decision has been taken considering the growing power demand in the emirates, which is estimated to reach around 20 GW by 2020. Part of its strategy to diversify the energy resources, the emirate has set a target of generating around 7 per cent of its power from renewable energy resources in the next ten years. |
