UAE Invites Companies to Bid for 40% Stake in 1.5 GW Solar Plant

• Project part of Abu Dhabi's attempt to get to net zero by 2050
• Oil-rich Persian Gulf state aims for 20 GW of solar by 2020

Abu Dhabi is inviting companies to develop as well as bid for a stake of as much as 40% in a new solar project, as the capital of the United Arab Emirates bolsters its renewable resource capacity and also tries to neutralize carbon emissions by 2050.

Emirates Water and also Electricity Co. will certainly seek bidders to build a 1.5-gigawatt plant in the Ajban area of the UAE's desert, according to a declaration. EWEC, a state-owned power purchase company, said the government will hold the other 60% of the equity.

Abu Dhabi already has 2 solar parks that will have a capacity of 3.2 GW when fully functional. The neighboring emirate of Dubai is building solar plants with the ability of producing 5 GW of power later this decade.

The oil-rich UAE is creating renewable nuclear power plant and also nuclear reactors to aid produce greener energy. It intends to have 20 GW of solar power by 2030 and also 44 GW by 2050, energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Monday.