Dubai-based companies sign pact for building Bahrain’s largest private solar plant

    13 Jun 2021

    A private solar plant will be built for Bahrain Mall. The project will be Bahrain’s largest solar rooftop installation to date. Solar rooftop plant will generate 50% of Bahrain Mall’s energy consumption needs, Power-Technology reports.

    The agreement will bring clean energy to The Bahrain Mall, operated by Carrefour Bahrain, and will be the largest private solar plant in the kingdom, a statement said.

    United Arab Emirates developer Majid al-Futtaim will install a 6MW solar plant at the Bahrain Mall. The real estate developer recently signed a power-purchase agreement (PPA) with Dubai-headquartered Yellow Door Energy for the project.

    Yellow Door Energy will also invest and support the project by building, designing, and maintaining the solar plant, Bahrain’s largest solar rooftop installation to date.

    Spanning more than 40,000 square meters, the rooftop solar plant is expected to generate 10 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy in its first year of operation, equivalent to reducing carbon emissions by 6,300 tonnes.

    Over 11,600 solar panels will be installed to meet 50% of the shopping mall’s energy consumption needs.

    Bahrain Mall operator, Carrefour Bahrain, will lead the solar plant project for the next 20 years. Yellow Door Energy will also invest and support the project by building, designing and maintaining the solar plant, the statement added.

    This agreement is part of the full renovation and expansion plan at the Bahrain Mall, which will be completed by 2022.

    In February, Yellow Door Energy signed loans worth $31.2m for eight solar photovoltaic (PV) plants with a combined total capacity of 48MW in Jordan.

    The lenders are the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) and Germany’s DEG, which are providing a $10.6m loan in local currency; Global Environment Facility, $5m; and a parallel $15.6m senior loan in local currency from DEG. In addition, Spain is providing results-based payments of up to €1.5m ($1.81m), as well as technical assistance together with the European Union.

    Yellow Door Energy is also providing equity contribution for the project.

    Two Dubai-based companies have signed an agreement to build the largest private solar plant in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

    Retail and commercial property developer Majid Al Futtaim said on Wednesday that it has signed a 6.2-megawatt peak (MWp) solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with commercial and industrial solar plant developer Yellow Door Energy to bring clean energy to The Bahrain Mall operated by its local unit Carrefour Bahrain.

    Yellow Door Energy will build, design, and maintain the solar plant for the 20-year duration of the PPA, a press statement by Majid Al Futtaim said.

    Abdul Hussain Bin Ali Mirza, President of Bahrain’s Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) said the project constitutes an important shift in the provision of energy to major commercial projects in the Kingdom as one of the largest private sector projects to install solar energy systems on a commercial building to-date.

    The rooftop solar project forms part of the full renovation and expansion of The Bahrain Mall, which will be completed by 2022.

    Bahrain has set a target of generating 5% of its energy needs from renewables by 2025 and 10% by 2035.

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