The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) plans to award $3.1 billion worth of contracts to build 91 electric power substations over the next three years.

News reports say that DEWA will award contracts worth $2.4 billion for 85 substations to be built over the next three years, and another $650 million for six 400/132kV substations.

The substations are being developed as part of DEWA’s plan to meet growing energy demand in the United Arab Emirates. The utility plans to invest more than $20 billion over the next five years.

In 2017, the utility completed 21 400kV substations, along with 1,150 kilometers of transmission line.

In June, DEWA said that it had commissioned 15 132/11 kV electric substations at a cost of $470 million.

In March, ground was broken for a 700 megawatt (MW) concentrated solar power plant, part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The $3.8 billion project features a solar tower measuring 260 meters in height. The CSP project will use two technologies: a 600 MW parabolic basin complex and a 100 MW solar tower. The solar tower will include a molten salt storage component, which will enable power to be generated for up to 15 hours without sunlight.

The complex will cover an area of 43 square kilometers, about one-fourth the area of Washington, D.C. The project is being developed by ACWA Power.