The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has issued an invitation for proposals for advisory services in order to construct a 1,600 MW solar photovoltaic project that is integrated with a 1,000 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). The BESS will provide an energy storage capacity of six hours. By December 17, 2024, bids must be submitted.

The project is consistent with DEWA's larger projects, which include energy storage at its flagship Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which integrates PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies, and a 250 MW pumped-storage plant near Hatta.

The UAE has increased its efforts to implement BESS technology in recent months, motivated by the need to stabilize the grid and further the nation's larger clean energy objectives.

The Research and Development Centre at DEWA, which has played a significant role in the advancement of battery storage systems, has submitted a patent application for a novel technique to improve electrolyte distribution, lithium-ion, and sodium-sulfur batteries. The technique improves battery performance in an economical and sustainable way by chemically treating electrodes with polymers.

Two test projects for battery energy storage are located in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. Using lithium-ion technology, one was created in collaboration with Tesla and has a 1.21 MW power capacity and an 8.61 MWh energy capacity.

With a 1.2 MW power capacity and a 7.5 MWh energy capacity, the second, a partnership with AMPLEX-NGK, uses sodium-sulfur (NaS) technology.

Masdar submitted the lowest proposal of $1.62/kWh for the sixth phase of the Al Maktoum Solar Park, which has a 1.8 GW capacity, in June.

The 400 MW BESS project, which will provide 800 MWh of storage capacity over two sites in Al-Bihouth and Madinat Zayed, was recently put out to bid by the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), which is in charge of creating utility projects in Abu Dhabi.

EWEC plans to lower carbon emissions intensity from 330 kg/MWh in 2019 to 190 kg/MWh by 2030, while boosting solar photovoltaic capacity to 7.5 GW.

DEWA has declared that the first quarter of 2025 will see the start of trial operations for its 250 MW pumped hydropower storage facility in Hatta. It is said that the AED1.421 billion (about $387 million) project is the first of it’s a kind in the Arabian Gulf.