ACWA Power ties up with TSK for 200 MW Dubai solar project

A consortium led by Acwa Power and TSK of Spain will develop a 200 MW solar project in Dubai, as directed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.

The entire project is expected to cost about $400m.

The Acwa Power incorporated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will receive a loan of about US $344 million, which will cater to 86 percent of the total expenditure of the project.

The 27-year amortizing loan will be provided by First Gulf Bank from Abu Dhabi in addition to National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group both from Saudi Arabia.

The sanctioning of loans will be signed by the end of March, according to company reports.

Acwa is preparing bids for projects worth $7 billion in areas from south Asia to the Middle East and North Africa and South Africa.

Last month, a consortium led by Acwa Power with Sener of Spain have won a 1.7 billion euro contract to build two solar power plants totaling 350 MW in the southern Moroccan city of Ouarzazate, the Moroccan solar energy agency (Masen) said.

The two plants are the second phase of the 500 MW Ouarzazate projects, which forms part of a government plan to produce two GW of solar power by 2020.

ACWA Power is already building a 160 MW plant in the first stage of the project in the Ouarzazate area.

The consortium had priced its offer at Dhs1.36 ($0.15) per KW for the first 200 MW plant with parabolic mirror technology, while it priced the plant with solar power tower technology at Dhs1.42 per KW.

Consortiums led by Spain’s Abengoa, GDF’s International Power and Acwa Power were pre-selected for the 200 MW (Noor II) tender.

The three groups were also pre-qualified for the 150 MW (Noor III) tender, along with another consortium led by Electricite de France (EDF).

The current portfolio of Acwa Power includes 6,050 MW of power in Saudi Arabia, 1,550 MW of power in Jordan; 427 MW of power in Oman and 60 MWp using photovoltaic technology in its solar plant in Karadzhalovo, Bulgaria.

Acwa Power aims to achieve 15-20 per cent profit growth for this fiscal year.

Sabeena Wahid

[email protected]