World's largest single-site solar plant in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi:An hour's drive southeast of Abu Dhabi is the world's largest single-site solar plant. Located at Sweihan in Abu Dhabi, Noor Abu Dhabi (which means 'light' in Arabic) features 3.2 million solar panels. The clean, renewable energy produced here will power the daily lives of 90,000 families in the emirate.

A video released on Wednesday by Abu Dhabi Media Office offers a stunning look at the plant that will eventually replace existing conventional gas-fired power plants, the Khaleej Times reported.

With the capacity to reduce Abu Dhabi's Co2 emissions by one million tonne, the plant will be looking at an environmental impact equivalent to taking 2,00,000 cars off the roads.

The UAE is diversifying its energy mix and aiming to meet 44 per cent of its needs through clean energy by 2050.

"It's actually interesting to have a solar power plant in a country that's rich with oil and natural resources like gas," said an official associated with the project. "Solar energy is the future and that's how we see it," he said.

In July last year, Abu Dhabi announced the construction of yet another solar power plant intended to surpass the Noor Abu Dhabi project.