Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) announced yesterday the completion of a financing deal for the construction of the Fujairah Station (F3), which is the largest gas-fired power plant in the UAE, with a production capacity of 2.4 GW, which is equivalent to providing electricity to 380 thousand homes in the country .
The plant is expected to start initial production by the summer of 2022, and to reach its full production capacity by the summer of 2023.
TAQA said in a statement that the completion of this financing deal comes after the signing of the energy purchase agreement and shareholders ’agreement in the Abu Dhabi Energy Corporation, Emirates Water and Electricity Company, Mubadala Investment Company“ Mubadala ”and the Japanese company“ Marubeni ”, where it will own all of And Mubadala owns a 60% stake in the project, while Marubeni will own the remaining 40%.
Cost
The estimated total cost of the project is about 4.2 billion dirhams, with external financing from a group of international multilateral commercial banks, including the "Bank of Japan for International Cooperation", "BNP Paribas Bank", "Mizuho Bank", and "Sumitomo Group" Japanese Banking Mitsui »,“ Sumitomo Trust Bank ”, and“ Standard Chartered Bank ”.
The largest station
Farid Al-Awlaki, who was recently appointed as the CEO of Energy Generation Operations at TAQA, said that “Fujairah (F3) Power Production Station is another important project for TAQA and its energy-generating companies, after the process of merging the assets with the Foundation. Abu Dhabi Energy ».
He added that it will be the largest gas powered power station in the UAE, indicating that its use of advanced combined cycle technologies makes it one of the most efficient power plants in the region.
Overcome challenges
For his part, the director of the vital facilities sector in Mubadala, Muhammad Al-Harmil Al-Shamsi, said that "the Fujairah Station Project (F3) provides another proof of our country's capabilities and its ability to overcome difficult challenges and continue to meet the needs of our society." He added, "The completion of a project financing deal of this size not only reflects the economic viability of the project, but also confirms the strength of the parties involved in it."
Al Shamsi continued: “We at Mubadala are proud to cooperate with (TAQA), Emirates Water and Electricity Company and Marubeni Company in implementing this project, which is one of the most important infrastructure projects in the UAE.”
An important achievement
In turn, the CEO of Emirates Water and Electricity Company, Othman Al Ali, said, "The completion of the financing deal for this project is an important achievement that will enable us to start construction of the plant, as the financial conditions of financing reflected a high level of competitiveness that we had not seen before."
He added: “We have succeeded in building fruitful partnerships, which have enabled the Emirates Water and Electricity Company to move forward in implementing major projects, playing a pivotal role in achieving sustainability, raising energy efficiency standards, and reducing the carbon footprint.”
Sector sustainability
In the same context, Satoru Harada, CEO of Operations in the Energy Business division of Marubeni, said that the “Fujairah Station Development Project (F3) is the sixth energy production project in the independent product system that the company is implementing in the UAE, which confirms our commitment to support Estidama The country's energy sector.
A successful deal
It is noteworthy that the completion of the financing project for the construction of the new plant comes after the announcement of the successful "TAQA" deal with the Abu Dhabi Energy Corporation recently, which resulted in the establishment of the third largest company listed in the financial markets in the UAE in terms of market value, and one of the 10 best companies Facilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa region in terms of organized assets.
More efficient
The Fujairah Station (F3) project is located in the “Qidfa” area of the Emirate of Fujairah, in a site that mediates the two stations currently operating (F1) and (F2) to generate water and electricity in the emirate.
The new plant relies on the latest technology of gas turbines of the category "JAC" provided by "Mitsubishi Heavy Energy Systems", to operate with a system that is considered the most efficient in the region once established.
• “Energy” and “Mubadala” will own a 60% stake, while the Japanese “Marubeni” will own 40%.