Dubai on Monday (March 20th) completed a solar plant big enough to power 50,000 homes as part of a plan to generate three-quarters of its energy from renewables by 2050, AFP reported.
The 200-megawatt plant sprawls over 4.5 square kilometres of desert and includes some 2.3 million photovoltaic panels.
It is the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park, which is set to pump out a total of 1,000 megawatts by 2020, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority said.
The $326 million second phase was built by a consortium including Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and Spain's TSK.
DEWA chief Saeed al-Tayer said the operators would sell power to the public utility company.
The project is the "largest and first solar power project of its kind in the region", he said.
