Dubai: The financial closing of UAE’s largest gas-fired power plant in the UAE is now complete, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) has confirmed.
The independent power producer (IPP) project in Fujairah will have a power generation capacity of 2.4 GW – equivalent to powering up 380,000 UAE households. It is likely to launch power generation by the third quarter of 2022.
The project will cost around Dh4.2 billion, with external funding sourced from a consortium of banks, including Japan Bank for International Cooperation, BNP Paribas Fortis, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited, and Standard Chartered Bank.
The financial closing follows the signing of the power purchase agreement and shareholders’ agreement between Abu Dhabi Power Corporation (ADPower), Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), Mubadala Investment Company and Japan-based Marubeni Corporation.
* Taqa and Mubadala will jointly hold 60 per cent in the project, while Japan's Marubeni has the rest.
A landmark venture
“The Fujairah F3 project is a landmark for Taqa and its generation assets, following the company’s integration with ADPower,” said Farid Al Awlaqi, the newly appointed Executive Director of Generation at Taqa.
“By utilizing advanced combined cycle technologies, it will be one of the most efficient in the region. Announcing the financial close of this project accelerates the transformation of the power and water sector, as Taqa delivers significant progress on important large-scale infrastructure projects in the UAE.”
Today’s financial closing follows the announcement of Taqa’s successful transaction with ADPower on July 1, which created the UAE’s third -largest publicly listed company by market capitalization.
As part of the transaction, the majority of ADPower’s power and water generation, transmission and distribution assets were transferred to Taqa in exchange for 106,367,950,000 new shares.
