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Masdar announces solar power plant consortium

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Abu Dhabi-based Masdar has appointed a consortium of Total and Abengoa Solar as partners to own, build and operate Shams 1, the world’s largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant and the first of its kind in the Middle East.

One of Masdar’s flagship projects, Shams 1 will directly contribute towards Abu Dhabi’s target of achieving a seven per cent renewable energy power generation capacity by the year 2020.

The joint venture between Masdar, Total and Abengoa Solar will develop, build, operate and maintain the plant, which will be located in Madinat Zayed, approximately 120km south west of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Shams 1 will be the largest CSP plant in the world, extending over an area of 2.5 km², with a capacity of approximately 100MW and a solar field consisting of 768 parabolic trough collectors that will be supplied by Abengoa Solar.

Shams 1 is registered as a project under the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and is eligible for carbon credits. It will be the first CSP plant registered under the CDM and the second project registered for Masdar.

Construction of the solar power plant is set to begin during the third quarter of 2010 and is expected to take approximately two years to complete.

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