wiredinUSA April 2013

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World’s largest solar power plant

With this new solar project, Masdar will be producing 10 percent of the world’s renewable energy, said Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, adding that the UAE is now producing 68 percent of the total renewable energy produced by the members of Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic union of the Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. The solar park features long lines of parabolic mirrors spread over an area equivalent to 285 football pitches in the desert of the Western Region, 120 kilometers southwest of Abu Dhabi.

United Arab Emirates has officially opened the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant, a $600 million project to provide electricity to 20,000 homes. Gulf News reported that president of UAE and the ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan inaugurated the Shams 1 solar power station in Madinat Zayed, in the presence of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai. The construction of Shams 1, a joint venture between Masdar, a company based in Abu Dhabi and international operatives such as Total and Abengoa, began in the third quarter of 2010 and will produce 100MW of electricity.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - April 2013

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