Abu Dhabi's $600 million solar plant Shams 1, the largest solar power project in the world, will be completed by the end of this year, a report said.

Shams 1, extending over an area of 2.5 sq km, has a capacity of approximately 100MW with a solar field consisting of 768 parabolic trough collectors, the Gulf News quoted Yousuf Al Ali, general manager of Shams Power Company, as saying.

Shams 1 is a joint venture between Masdar (60 per cent), Total (20 per cent) and Abengoa (20 per cent).

"As one of Masdar's flagship projects, Shams 1 will directly contribute toward Abu Dhabi's target of achieving 7 per cent renewable energy power generation capacity by the year 2020," said Al Ali.