ABU DHABI. The country’s first solar power plant Built for Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Government’s sustainability initiative (the world’s largest carbon-neutral urban development now being built on the outskirts of the capital), is capable of converting sunlight into energy without emitting carbon dioxide or other gases responsible for global warming. Masdar’s plant has a capacity of 10 megawatts – enough to power some 8,000 homes – and saves 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere every year.It consists of rows of photovoltaic solar panels, made of specialised semiconductor materials, which turn sunlight into electricity. The installation consists of 87,777 solar modules spread over 200,000 square metres – an area the size of 27 football pitches. The modules were supplied by two companies – Suntech Power Holdings, from China, and First Solar, an American company. Both types were evaluated in a performance review that Masdar carried out before construction of the power plant began. In January this year, the Government announced that by 2020, seven per cent of the emirate’s power would come from renewable sources. The US$22 billion (Dh81bn) development will be using photovoltaic panels in buildings as well as other solar technologies to provide most of its power.