DEWA phase seven: 2,000 MW of solar, 8,400 MWh of storage, and what it signals
Masdar has submitted the lowest bid for the seventh phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park: 2,000 MW of PV paired with a 1,400 MW battery at six hours duration. The storage half of that sentence is the news.
The seventh phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is close to being awarded. Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) submitted the lowest bid and is expected to take the contract, according to sources cited by MEED on 7 August 2026. DEWA has not made a formal announcement, so treat the winner as reported rather than confirmed — but the technical shape of the tender is public, and it is the part worth reading closely.
What is actually being built
Phase seven adds 2,000 MW of photovoltaic capacity and a 1,400 MW battery energy storage system with six hours of duration — a total of 8,400 MWh. Bids were opened on 1 July 2026, with Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power, the UAE's Etihad Water & Electricity and Masdar among the developers submitting. China's BYD is understood to be the battery supplier, with Gotion also in the running. Forty-seven firms responded to the expression of interest in March 2025; the main tender was issued in November 2025. Deloitte led the transaction advisory team alongside CMS and Sargent & Lundy.
Storage is no longer an add-on
For most of the solar park's history, each phase was a straight generation contract: build the panels, sell the kilowatt-hours. Phase seven pairs almost as much stored energy as a mid-sized power station with the panels themselves. Six hours of duration is not frequency regulation or a grid-stability sweetener — it is enough to move a meaningful share of midday generation into the evening peak, which in Dubai is driven by air conditioning that keeps running long after sunset.
The pattern is regional, not one-off. India's Larsen & Toubro, the EPC contractor on phase six, is also working with Masdar on Abu Dhabi's round-the-clock 5.2 GW solar-plus-storage project, which reached financial close in July 2026, and in the same month announced orders for roughly 6 GWh of battery projects in the Middle East. A Masdar-led consortium also emerged as frontrunner for Kuwait's first utility-scale solar plant.
Where phase six stands
The 1,800 MW sixth phase is expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2026. The USD 1.5bn facility is delivered through Shuaa Energy 4, a special purpose vehicle owned 60 % by DEWA and 40 % by Masdar — the structure the phase seven winner is expected to replicate. Once phase six is in service, the park's total production capacity reaches 4,660 MW. DEWA raised the park's 2030 target by 45 % last year, from 5,000 MW to 7,260 MW, against a total programme investment of AED 50bn (about USD 13.6bn).
The balance sheet behind the programme
DEWA reported its H1 2026 results on 12 August. Consolidated revenue was AED 14.86bn, up 1.80 % year on year. EBITDA rose 5.27 % to AED 7.32bn, operating profit rose 9.08 % to AED 4.07bn, and net profit reached a record AED 3.33bn, up 15.02 %. Demand growth from Dubai's population and economy is doing most of the work. For anyone assessing counterparty risk on a 25-year solar contract in this emirate, that is the number that matters more than any single tender.
What this means for owners in the UAE
Two practical consequences for a villa owner in Jumeirah, a warehouse in Jebel Ali or a mall operator in Al Quoz.
- Utility-scale solar keeps getting cheaper to build, and your tariff will not follow it down automatically. DEWA procures phase seven power at a wholesale price; you buy at the retail slab. The gap between the two is exactly the space a rooftop system monetises. Growth in the park does not shrink that gap — it is the reason the grid stays reliable while you self-generate.
- Six-hour storage at utility scale is a preview of what becomes bankable behind the meter. The same cell chemistry and the same suppliers underpin commercial-scale batteries. Warehouses and malls with heavy evening loads should start modelling PV plus storage rather than PV alone — not necessarily to buy today, but so the roof layout, cable routes and switchgear leave room for it.
If you are sizing a system now, the honest advice is unchanged: build the PV, meter it properly, and keep the electrical room capable of accepting a battery in three to five years. Retrofitting space is far more expensive than reserving it.
Sources: MEED — Lowest bidder emerges for Dewa Solar Park phase seven (7 August 2026), SolarQuarter — DEWA H1 2026 results (12 August 2026), Masdar — financial closing on the 1,800 MW sixth phase, DEWA — proposals invited for the seventh phase. The identity of the winning bidder is reported by MEED and not yet confirmed by DEWA.