The largest photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Mena region located in Masdar City has hit all performance targets in the first two years of its operations and is exporting, demonstrating that utility-scale PV plants in the region are viable, the company said.

The 10 MW PV plant, which is one of five projects in the UAE registered for carbon credits under the United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), entered its third year of operations in June. Since operations began, the plant has saved 24,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent of taking 3,300 cars off Abu Dhabi’s roads.

The 10 MW solar plant, consisting of 87,777 panels of thin film and crystalline silicon technologies, and connected to the Abu Dhabi National Grid, has so far generated approximately 36,000 MWh of clean energy. The plant is a net exporter of energy to the grid after it meets the entire energy needs of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) in Masdar City.

Masdar Power is currently constructing the 100 MW Shams One, one of the largest concentrated solar power plants of its kind in the world and the largest in the Middle East. Located at Madinat Zayed, 120 km southwest of Abu Dhabi city, the project, is on schedule for completion towards the end of 2012.

Masdar Power’s other projects include the 1 GW London Array, the largest offshore wind farm in the world, an onshore wind farm project of up to 30 MW on Sir Bani Yas Island, 250 km southwest of Abu Dhabi city, the Mahe onshore wind farm in Seychelles, and Masdar PV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Masdar that produces at its plant in Germany amorphous silicon thin film photovoltaic modules eight times larger and more powerful than the industry standard.