The world’s largest single-unit solar power plant, located in Madinat Zayed, approximately 120 kms southwest of Abu Dhabi, UAE, is on track to be completed by the end of 2012.
The plant, known as Shams 1, will officially start operations by the first quarter of 2013, according to an announcement by solar power giant Masdar.
The plant broke ground in 2010, covers 2.5 square kilometers and is worth$600 million. Once completed, it will have a generation capacity of 100MW, providing electricity to 20,000 homes in the region.
Credited: Shamspower.ae
Shams 1 uses concentrating solar power (CSP) consisting 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.
“Shams 1 is the largest concentrated solar power project in the world. Developing a project of this scale is a significant achievement for Abu Dhabi, Masdar and its partners, Total and Abengoa,” said Yousuf Al Ali, general manager of Shams Power Company.
There are many larger solar projects around the world, but they make use of an aggregation of multiple solar plants that are less than 100MW in capacity.
Shams 1 is a joint venture that is 60 percent owned by Masdar, 20 percent by Total and 20 percent by Abengoa. It will be followed by the construction of Shams 2 and 3, which will also generate around 100MW of power each.
The solar power plant is set to displace approximately 175,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, which is equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees or removing 15,000 automobiles from the city’s roads.
The project is in line with Abu Dhabi’s goal of achieving seven percent renewable energy power generation capacity by 2020.
