Desert Heat Will Help Keep the Lights on in Dubai After Sundown

(Bloomberg) --

The main power contractor at one of the world’s biggest solar parks tapped Sweden’s Azelio AB to supply technologies that can be used to turn stored desert heat into electricity after sundown.

Azelio sold storage and a Stirling engine to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Complex in Dubai, according to a statement on Wednesday. Solar power generated from the 950-megawatt field will will be used to heat a block of recycled aluminum to 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 Fahrenheit) during the daytime. A Stirling engine can then be used to exchange the heat into power over the night.

“Our long-duration energy storage can make solar power available around the clock in an affordable way,” Jonas Eklind, chief executive officer of Azelio said in the statement. The Gotenburg, Sweden, based company did not disclose size of the unit or the value of the order. The technology is available in units with as much as 100 megawatts of capacity.

ALEC Energy, which is developing the MBR solar complex, placed the order. The Dubai project is jointly owned by Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, ACWA Power and Silk Road Fund. They plan is to expand the capacity of the park to 5,000 megawatts by 2030.

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