The first phase of the Hassyan clean coal power project is on track and will be operational by March 2020, said the chief of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Dewa’s MD and chief executive, made the remark during a visit to China.

The plant will come up in Saih Shuaib on the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Dewa has a 51 per cent stake in the project company while Acwa Power and Harbin will own the remaining 49 per cent.

Al Tayer met with Wang Xiankui, secretary of the Party Committee of Heilongjiang Province. Present were Mohammad Abunayyan, chairman of ACWA Power, and and Waleed Salman, executive vice president for strategy and business development at Dewa.

“The Hassyan Clean Coal project, which is an ambitious and strategic project for Dubai and the UAE, based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, reflects our efforts to diversify Dubai’s energy mix and supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy to include 61 per cent from gas, 25 per cent from solar power, 7 per cent from clean coal, and 7 per cent from nuclear power by 2030, and to increase the share of clean energy to 75 per cent by 2050,” said Al Tayer.

“This unique project has received wide international participation reflecting the trust and confidence of international investors to invest in Dubai Government’s major energy projects,” Al Tayer said.

“The first phase of the project comprises two units of 600 MW each and will be operational by March 2020. I wish the ACWA Power and Harbin Electric consortium success in delivering our project on time, and I reiterate the collaboration with our Chinese and Saudi counterparts in trade and investment opportunities through joint work teams and strategic projects in the energy sector.”

The ultra-supercritical technology that the plant will use will provide higher performance efficiency thereby requiring less coal per megawatt hour to be used than conventional coal-fired stations.

An outcome of the technology is that there will be lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

The value proposition that the winning bid has delivered to Dewa sees a Levelised Cost of Electricity of 4.501 US cents/kWh based on May 2015 coal prices and payable under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).