Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), one of the leading companies in the integrated coordination of planning, purchasing and supply of water and electricity across the UAE, has invited developers to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the development of a new solar photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Project to be located in the Ajban area of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi
Following the successful closings of Noor Abu Dhabi and Al Dhafra Solar PV, Al Ajban Solar PV is the third world leading large scale utility solar PV project developed by EWEC.
The Al Ajban Solar PV project, a greenfield solar PV plant with power generation capacity of 1,500MW (AC), is fundamentally important to the energy transition and sustainability strategy of Abu Dhabi, and will play a pivotal role in successfully achieving the sustainability and energy diversification objectives of UAE Energy Strategy 2050, and the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative through the use of renewable and clean energy. It will generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes across the UAE and, once commercially operational, it is expected to reduce Abu Dhabi?s CO2 emissions by more than 2.4 million metric tonnes per year.
Othman Al Ali, CEO of EWEC, said, ?EWEC is at the forefront of developing world leading solar power projects. Our strategic investments in solar power have seen us develop Noor Abu Dhabi, the current world?s largest single-site solar power plant, and Al Dhafra Solar PV, which will be the new world?s largest single-site solar power plant once commercially operational. With Al Ajban Solar PV, which will be similar in size and capacity output to Al Dhafra Solar PV, Abu Dhabi and the UAE will have the three largest, world leading solar power plants, increasing the diversification of our energy production portfolio, and significantly advancing decarbonisation of the energy sector. We are delighted to invite expressions of interest from developer or developer consortiums for the Al Ajban Solar PV project.?
The project will involve the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of the plant, and associated infrastructure. The successful developer or developer consortium will own up to 40% of the entity while the remaining equity will be held indirectly by the Abu Dhabi Government.
The developer will enter into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with EWEC, the single buyer of power and water capacity and output in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The PPA will be structured as an energy purchase agreement whereby EWEC will pay only for the net electrical energy supplied by the plant.
Following review of the EOIs, EWEC will issue the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to proceed to the next stage. The RFQ will provide additional details regarding the project, pre-qualification criteria and the bidding process.
