UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) and its partners Masdar, EDF Renewables, JinkoPower announced in statement about the successful financial closing of the Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Producer (IPP) project.
The record-breaking project, located approximately 35 kilometers from Abu Dhabi city, will have a capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) and will supply power to Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC).
Al Dhafra Solar PV IPP will be the world’s largest single-site solar power plant, using approximately 4 million solar panels to generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes across the UAE.
As per the statement, financing for the project will come from seven international banks, following the signing of the power purchase agreement in July 2020.(read more)
The approximately 1 billion USD transaction has been funded via project financing with BNP Paribas as bookrunner together with Bank of China, Crédit Agricole, HSBC, MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered, as mandated lead arrangers.
Earlier in the year, the competitive bidding for the project led to one of the most competitive tariffs for solar power, set at AED 4.97 fils/kWh (USD 1.35 cents/kWh). (read more)
Upon financial closing, the price was further improved to AED 4.85 fils/kWh (USD 1.32 cents/kWh), primarily driven by hedging and financing cost improvements, in addition to other optimization efforts.
The plant will deploy the latest in crystalline, bifacial solar technology, which will enable the plant to provide more efficient electricity by capturing solar irradiation from both the front and backside of the panel. U
Once the project is in full commercial operation, the plant is expected to reduce Abu Dhabi’s CO2 emissions by more than 2.4 million metric tons per year, equivalent to removing approximately 470,000 cars from the road.
TAQA will own 40% of the Al Dhafra project, while the remaining partners Masdar, EDF Renewables and JinkoPower will have a 20% stake each.
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