Dubai: The utility company Taqa together with France’s Engie and EWEC (Emirates Water and Electricity Co.) have done the financial closing of the Dh2.3 billion low-carbon Mirfa 2 Reverse Osmosis desalination plant in Abu Dhabi.
The project is 78 per cent funded through debt, from local and international banks. It follows Taqa and Engie signing a water purchase agreement with EWEC in February.
This will be the third largest reverse osmosis desal plant in the UAE, and produce 120 million imperial gallon per day once fully operational. That translates to 550,000 cubic metres a day of potable water.
To be operational in Q4-2025, Taqa holds 60 per cent in the new facility, while Engie has the rest. Both will also take on operations and maintenance of the plant, with the French firm having 60 per cent in the O&M company and Taqa the rest. EWEC will procure the water supplied from the plant for 30 years.
“Taqa is proud to invest in the development, ownership, and operation of this critical water project in Abu Dhabi, which will contribute to the UAE’s decarbonisation efforts as well as Taqa’s own emissions reductions targets," said Farid Al Awlaqi, Executive Director of Generation, Taqa.
The engineering procurement, construction contract has gone to Abu Dhabi based Al Nasr Contracting Company alongside Société Internationale de Dessalement (SIDEM).
“Creating a pipeline of RO projects that attract investment in the sector is an integral part of EWEC’s strategic initiative to decouple water and power generation, which in turn will enable us to realise the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Strategic Targets 2035 to reduce carbon emissions by up to 75 per cent," said Othman Al Ali, CEO of EWEC.
"Through our initiatives, we forecast that over 90 per cent of our water production will be from RO (reverse osmosis) technology by 2030, resulting in an 88 per cent reduction in carbon emissions associated with water production.”
