Construction of the independent 1,177-megawatt photovoltaic power plant will begin immediately with completion scheduled for the second quarter of 2019, reports Reuters.
ADWEA raised $650 million in debt with the remaining $222 million raised in equity, Director-General Saif Saleh al-Sayari told reporters. A consortium made up of Japan’s Marubeni Corp and China’s JinkoSolar Holding were chosen to build and operate the plant located 120 kilometers east of the city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
al-Sayari added that financing was through local and international commercial banks, with the 25-year loan structured in a way that will allow refinancing after five years. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi was the leading arranger of the loan along with three other Japanese banks – Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust, and Norinchukin Bank.
Two French Banks, BNP Paribas Credit Agricole and Natixis, as well as First Abu Dhabi Bank, were also part of the deal.
A special-purpose company, Sweihan PV Power Company, has been formed with ADWEA holding a 60 percent stake and Marubeni and JinkoSolar, the project developers, each having a 20 percent stake.
This project is ADWEA’s first foray into the world of renewable energy, and they have jumped in with their eyes open and landing with both feet firmly on the ground. Abu Dhabi plans on generating 7.0 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020. And in a particularly surprising move, the developers are providing electricity for 2.42 cents per KW/h, one of the most competitive prices seen in solar, ever.
Abu Dhabi’s green-energy firm, Masdar, has already launched two solar projects, including Sham’s 1, the largest concentrated solar power plant (CSP) in operation in the world. The 100-megawatt, grid connected power plant, located in western Abu Dhabi, will generate clean energy to power 20,000 homes in the UAE.
