DUBAI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan inaugurated on Sunday the 100-megawatt solar plant Shams 1 in the desert of Abu Dhabi, the world's largest concentrated solar power plant in operation.
Covering an area of 2.5 square km, the 600-million-U.S. dollars project incorporates the latest in parabolic trough technology and features more than 258,000 mirrors mounted on 768 tracking parabolic trough collectors, capable of delivering green electricity to 20,000 homes.
The president applauded Shams 1 as a major milestone in the country's economic diversification and a step toward long-term energy security, saying that the plant demonstrated the UAE's commitment to maintaining its position as a major provider of energy.
The UAE, a major oil supplier, aims to reduce its dependence on oil and gas for domestic power needs to 75 percent until 2030 from the current 99 percent.
As the biggest step so far, Sharms 1 will contribute to Abu Dhabi's goal of getting seven percent of its energy from renewable source by 2020.
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