Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) is in talks with banks to finance its new independent power project (IPP) at Shuweihat, which is attracting new international developers, a senior company executive said Tuesday.
The Shuweihat 3, or S3, IPP will be capable of generating 1,600 megawatt (MW) of electricity.
"For S3, we already started earlier to talk to the bankers, and see the appetite for this project," director of privatisation Abdullah Al Nuaimi told MEED's Arabian Power and Water Summit. "We have a lot of appetite and have a lot of offers from banks," Al Nuaimi said. "I think it's going to be achievable."
The project is attracting new private sector companies that haven't been involved with Abu Dhabi's private power projects, in the past, Al Nuaimi said. "We really got a lot of interest, some of them from new players-it's the first time they come to the market-plus the existing players," he said.
A total of 14 companies have prequalified to bid for the S3 IPP, Al Nuaimi said.
International developers such as International Power PLC and GDF Suez have in the past bid for and won similar projects in Abu Dhabi.
Adwea announced the S3 project late last year, and said it expected to have an easier time arranging financing for the project than it did for its Shuweihat 2 project.