Shams: One of the World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Power Plants

Realization
Middle East
Solar

Location: United Arab Emirates
Partners: TotalEnergies, Abengoa Solar, Masdar
Main activity: Solar power generation
Commissioning: 2013

258,000
number of parabolic mirrors installed at the Shams solar power plant
UAE map

Inaugurated in the Abu Dhabi desert in 2013, Shams is one of the largest concentrated solar thermal power plant in the world. We built the plant in partnership with Masdar and Abengoa Solar.

For over 70 years, we have supported the United Arab Emirates in its effort to diversify its energy mix. Benefiting from an exceptionally high amount of sunshine across vast desert expanses, this solar power market has exceptional growth potential.

In 2010, local authorities selected the Company and our partner Abengoa, a leading provider of concentrated solar power solutions, to build and operate the largest concentrated solar power plant in the Middle East. In operation since March 2013, the Shams 100-MW power plant covers an area of 2.5 km2 and supplies over 20,000 homes.

The sun shines on Abu Dhabi

Established in 2006, Masdar, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, is a global leader in renewable energy and sustainable urban development. Masdar’s mandate is to help maintain the leadership of the UAE in the global energy sector, while supporting the diversification of both its economy and energy sources for the benefit of future generations.

As part of this mandate, Masdar developed the Shams concentrated solar power plant, in which TotalEnergies is a shareholder, and which was then the largest renewable energy project in the Middle East. In 2008, Masdar broke ground on Masdar City, a world-class technology and innovation hub, and a pioneering sustainable urban community in Abu Dhabi.

The City is currently home to a range of companies, including multinationals, SMEs and startups, dedicated to developing innovative technologies across the sectors of renewables, energy storage, artificial intelligence, health, space, and mobility.