Dubai plans a pumped-storage project to operate with solar power

摘要

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced plans to build a 250 MW pumped-storage facility in Hatta, the inland exclave of the Emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The project, the first of its kind in the Gulf region, was launched in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and ruler of Dubai. It will make use of the existing reservoir at the Al Hattawi dam in the Hajar mountains, which will act as the lower reservoir, the Dubai utility announced on 9 November. The Al Hattawi dam is located at el. 400 m, with a storage capacity of 7.8 × 10~6 m~3. An upper reservoir will be built 3-4 km from the Al Hattawi dam at el. 700 m, according to Dewa. Solar power will be used to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir which will be built, it was added. "The efficiency of the power station will reach 90 per cent with response to demand for energy within 90 seconds," noted Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the Chief Executive of Dewa. The project will have a lifespan of 60 to 80 years.