The Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa) director general Mohammed Saleh was quoted by WAM as saying that the plants will be built in collaboration with the private sector.
Aimed at reducing the cost of energy production and lowering carbon emissions, the project follows the Vision 2021 strategy, which envisions the country to generate 24% of the power from renewable sources or nuclear energy by 2021.
A 100MW plant is capable of generating enough power to address the requirements of 20,000 homes, while lowering about 175,000t of carbon dioxide per year.
Even though, construction of the first plant is expected to commence this year, additional details of the Northern Emirates project currently remain undisclosed.
Clean Energy Business Council technical director and CLS Energy Consultants chief executive was quoted by The National as saying: "The decision is a clear indication that the UAE Government is serious about achieving its renewable energy targets and dedicated to protecting the environment."
Enviromena Power Systems chief executive and founding partner Sami Khoreibi expressed hope that the plants would feature solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that capture the sun’s light and transform it into electricity.
"It would definitely make sense for it to be solar PV technology. PV is producing at substantially lower costs than other sources."
