Evwind, Other renewables

Shams 1 Concentrating Solar Power project to be opened on March 17

Shams 1 will be one of the largest concentrated solar power plants in the world.

Shams 1, the largest concentrated solar thermal power project in the Middle East, which will generate 100 megawatts of clean and sustainable energy at a cost of Dh2.2 billion ($600 million), will be officially inaugurated on March 17.

This was disclosed yesterday by Masdar, a Mubadala company.

According to Masdar, Shams 1 will be one of the largest concentrated solar power [CSP] plants in the world, extending over an area of 2.5 square kilometres with a capacity of approximately 100 MW.

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Shams 1, located near Madinat Zayed in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, will begin feeding power to the Abu Dhabi national grid next month.

The company said the CSP technology and parabola shapes means that solar thermal electricity is generated by focusing sunlight, concentrated by mirrors, reflects to heat a coolant which then generates high-pressure steam to drive a steam turbine.

Shams 1, the first utility-scale commercial solar power project in the Middle East, will consist of 258,048 parabolic trough mirrors, 192 solar collector assembly loops with eight solar collector assemblies per loop, 768 solar collector assembly units and 27,648 absorber pipes.

According to Masdar, Shams 1, located near Madinat Zayed in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, will begin feeding power to the Abu Dhabi national grid as of March this year.

The power station will be developed under a 25-year build, own and operate contract. The construction cost of Shams 1 is about $600 million (Dh2.2 billion).