The first phase of the AED12 billion Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park has gone live.

The project Tuesday started feeding 13MW of energy to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s network through photovoltaic technology.

The solar park will generate 24 million KW hours of electricity per year.

The project, located at Seih Al Dahal area in Dubai, was opened by Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.

The 13MW solar PV power plant is the first phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The project, which is spread over on a 48-square km area, will ultimately have a capacity to generate 1,000 megawatts of power when it is completed in 2030.

The power generated by the plant will displace 15,000 tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to removing about 2,000 cars from the road every year.

The plant covers an area of 59 acres, or 238,764 square meters, that is sufficient to accommodate approximately 33 soccer pitches and is designed to operate for over 25 years.

On Tuesday, Shaikh Mohammed also launched the next phase of the plant that will produce 100MW through public-private partnership.

“This will be based on an independent power producing model based on the partnership between the public and private sectors,” Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, the MD and CEO of Dewa, which supervises and manages project financed by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, said in a statement.

First Solar CEO Jim Hughes said: “Today marks the realization of a vision that places the UAE at the forefront of the region’s efforts to pursue and promote the development of renewable energy. We are proud to have been part of this initiative to demonstrate that solar PV, with its price and operational efficiencies, is the right fit for the Middle East’s energy generation needs.”