Dubai has 106 MW under net metering

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has revealed there are 1,338 buildings hosting a PV system under the emirate’s Shams Dubai net metering scheme, for a total generation capacity of around 106 MW since the program was launched in early 2015.

That figure indicates around 63 MW of new net-metered capacity has been added since the last set of statistics was released, in June last year. Such exponential growth demonstrates strong interest for residential and commercial PV in Dubai.

In August last year, DEWA reported requests to access the emirate’s net metering scheme had reached a combined capacity of 323 MW.

Under the Shams Dubai initiative, owners of residential and commercial PV systems can sell surplus electricity to the grid at the same price they would pay for consuming it – at the end of the month the net amount is billed to the customer.

The emirate is aiming to generate 7% of its total electricity from renewable energy sources by next year, a quarter by 2030 and three-quarters by 2050. Large scale solar is supported through tenders for Dubai’s 5 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest solar project in the United Arab Emirates – and Middle East – to date.