UAE-based company Mulk Holding and Indian company Aditya Solar Power have signed a deal, worth AED2bn (US$545mn), for the development of a 200 megawatt (MW) solar thermal power project in the UAE. Mulk Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of Mulk Holding, will supply and install solar thermal power plants for Aditya Solar. The project will involve two phases. The first phase, with an installed capacity of 40MW, will come online by 2012. The remaining 160MW capacity will come online by 2013.

Electricity in the UAE overwhelmingly depends on natural gas. Over the long term, demand for power is expected to grow. Industrial consumption should increase in tandem with new activity, albeit there may be a decline in household demand from Dubai as the numbers of expat high skilled workers leave the emirate.