Abu Dhabi’s TAQA Group and Marubeni to develop power and water project for Saudi Aramco

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) – one of the largest listed integrated utility companies in the EMEA region – along with Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni), announced Thursday a partnership to develop a greenfield cogeneration power and water desalination project in Saudi Arabia with the world’s largest integrated oil and gas company, Saudi Aramco.

The Tanajib Cogeneration and Desalination Project will have a net capacity of 940 megawatts (MW) of power generation, 1,084 tons per hour of steam and 5.25 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water gross capacity (net capacity: 4.3 MIGD).

TAQA and Marubeni have signed a Water and Energy Conversion Agreement for a landmark greenfield industrial facility, as well as for the development of supporting infrastructure including pipelines to connect the desalination and cogeneration plants to end users.

A special-purpose vehicle has been created to develop the plants with TAQA and Marubeni holding a 60 per cent stake and Saudi Aramco with 40 per cent. Under the contract, TAQA and Marubeni will operate the plants for 20 years on a build, own, operate, and transfer basis. This project aims to supply electricity, steam and desalinated water to Saudi Aramco’s nearby oil and gas facilities.

“TAQA is pleased to partner with Marubeni and Saudi Aramco on a project of such strategic importance to the Kingdom. The Tanajib facility will utilize TAQA’s expertise in delivering efficient power and water projects, as well as further strengthening our capabilities in operations and maintenance through a 40 per cent stake in the O&M company. TAQA has made a firm commitment to expand its generation capacity by up to 15 GW internationally by 2030 and this project demonstrates the progress we are making on this while also expanding our existing footprint in Saudi Arabia,” said Farid Al Awlaqi, TAQA Group’s Executive Director of Generation,