Abu Dhabi’s Department of Energy (DoE) announced on January 8 the start of operations at Noor Abu Dhabi, the largest solar plant in the world, Mubasher reported.

The plant will be operated by the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), which owns around 60% of the project, and a Japanese consortium comprised of Marubeni Corp and China’s JinkoSolar Holding, which holds the remaining 40%.

The solar project will generate around 1,177 megawatts (MW), double the capacity of the 550-MW Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, formerly the world’s largest solar plant in California.

Establishing this solar plant comes in line with the UAE’s “Clean Energy Strategy 2050” initiative that aims to increase the country’s use of clean energy.