Dubai 900MW solar project nearing financial close
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power signed the power purchase agreement with Dewa in April. The group was selected after submitting a world record tariff of $cents1.6953 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in November 2019.
Shuaa Energy 3, the special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up to develop the 900MW photovoltaic (PV) solar fifth phase of Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid (MBR) solar park, is expecting to reach financial close for the project by the end of July.
According to sources close to the project, final preparations for the financial close are underway, with the transaction likely to be concluded in the second half of July. State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) established Shuaa Energy 3 to develop and operate and maintain the 900MW photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in partnership with a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and Kuwait’s Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC).
The developer consortium signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) with Dewa, also the offtaker for the solar IPP, in April. The group was selected as the preferred bidder for the project in November last year having submitted a world record tariff of $cents1.6953 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Dewa will hold a 60 per cent stake in the company, with the Acwa Power consortium holding the remaining 40 per cent.
The MBR solar park is planned to have a total installed capacity of 5,000MW by 2030. The park currently has 1,013MW of PV solar capacity under operation, with 1,850MW of PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) capacity currently under construction.
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