Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) has announced the financial close for the Fujairah F3 Independent Power Producer (IPP) project in the UAE.
The power plant has been designed to have a power generation capacity of 2.4GW, which is adequate to power 380,000 households in UAE.
It is planned to start the early power generation in summer 2022, and the full power generation is expected by summer 2023.
The Fujairah F3 plant is planned to be located in the Qidfa area of the Emirate of Fujairah, between the existing Fujairah F1 and Fujairah F2 water and electricity plants.
TAQA and Mubadala will jointly hold a 60% stake in the project, while the remaining 40% will be held by Marubeni.
TAQA executive director of generation Farid Al Awlaqi said: “The Fujairah F3 project is a landmark for TAQA and its generation assets, following the company’s integration with ADPower. It will be the largest gas-fired power plant in the UAE, and, by utilising 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.”
Fujairah F3 plant will feature JAC-class gas turbine from Mitsubishi Heavy Power Systems
Prior to the financial closing, the company has signed power purchase agreement and shareholder’s agreement with Abu Dhabi Power (ADPower), Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), Mubadala Investment Company and Japan-based Marubeni.
The Fujairah F3 plant, costing a total of approximately AED 4.2bn ($1.14bn), will feature the advanced JAC-class gas turbine technology from Mitsubishi Heavy Power Systems.
The project secured external funding from a consortium of international multi-lateral and commercial banks, including Japan Bank for International Cooperation, BNP Paribas, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Trust Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank.
Marubeni power business division chief operating officer Satoru Harada said: “Fujairah F3 is our sixth I(W)PP project in the UAE, a reflection of our commitment to supporting a sustainable energy sector that offers reliable and environmentally friendly sources of power.
“This project will deliver operational flexibility and state-of-the-art efficiency to reinforce the security of supply and support the integration of zero-carbon power generation assets.
“We would like to thank TAQA, EWEC and Mubadala, as well as our financial partners, for their cooperation. We look forward to now developing the largest independent gas-fired power plant in the UAE.”
