Dubai will provide clean energy to an extra 270,000 homes with the final stage of installation at the world’s largest single-site solar energy park.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, broke ground on the fourth phase of the 700MW concentrated solar power (CSP) project.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will seek to meet the target of a planned total production capacity of 1,000MW by 2020 and 5,000MW by 2030.

The park, which features the world’s tallest solar tower at 260m, will reduce more than 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year and power 800,000 homes by 2030.

With a total investment of Dh50 billion, the projects objective is to meet UAE’s Clean Energy Strategy to have 7 percent of its total power output from clean energy sources by 2020 and 75 percent by 2050.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), said the project would also be home to the world’s largest thermal energy storage capacity.

The first stage of the park became operational five years ago, while the 200MW photovoltaic second phase of the solar park was launched in March 2017.

By 2020, the 800MW photovoltaic third phase will be operational, and the first stage of the 700MW CSP fourth phase will be commissioned in 2020.

The contractor of the project is a consortium comprising Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and the Silk Road Fund, in collaboration with China’s Shanghai Electric.

It will also make the emirate a global hub for clean energy and establish Dubai with the lowest carbon footprint in the world.

The Solar Park will also provide Expo 2020 Dubai with a dedicated capacity of 464MW of clean energy and make it the first Expo in the world to be completely powered by clean energy.