TAQA & JERA Achieve Financial Close of Najim Cogeneration Co

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), together with JERA Co, on Thursday announced the successful financial closing of Najim Cogeneration Company Limited, a new industrial steam and electricity cogeneration plant that will produce electricity and steam for a petrochemical complex located in Jubail in Saudi Arabia.

The new cogeneration plant will supply up to 475 megawatts (MW) of power and approximately 452 tonnes per hour (TPH) of steam from advanced combined cycle gas fired technology and will be developed by a special purpose entity owned by TAQA (51%) and JERA (49%) on a 25-year build, own, and operate basis extendable by five years on mutual agreement.

TAQA, which is one of the largest listed integrated utility companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and JERA, Japan’s largest power generation company, will also undertake the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the plant through an O&M special purpose entity.

The plant’s financial closing comes after TAQA and JERA entered into a Power and Steam Purchase Agreement with Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), a joint venture company owned by Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies in March 2024.

Key Milestone

Farid Al Awlaqi, CEO of TAQA’s Generation business, said that reaching financial close is an important milestone reinforcing his company’s position as a partner of choice for utility projects of this scale.

Representing a cornerstone of TAQA’s commitment to growth and efficiency, the company will take on a developer role as well as the operations and maintenance at the plant – two focus areas for capability expansion for TAQA.
“This is TAQA’s third generation project in Saudi Arabia and it will develop an advanced cogeneration steam and power plant using the latest highly efficient J-Class gas turbine technology in partnership with JERA,” he added.

Steven Winn, Chief Global Strategist at JERA, said that achieving financial close for the SATORP strategic expansion cogeneration plant marks a significant success for TAQA, JERA and SATORP. This milestone was successfully achieved due to the excellent teamwork of all stakeholders.

This project aligns perfectly with JERA’s strategy to provide efficient, sustainable, and technologically advanced energy systems, contributing to the Kingdom’s and to their customer’s vision for a sustainable and optimised energy supply, he said.

He further said: “This new cogeneration plant is designed to optimise energy efficiency, and reduce environmental impact, and it will play a crucial role in supporting SATORP’s strategic expansion operations. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, the plant will ensure reliable and efficient power and steam generation, setting new standards in operational performance and sustainability.”

Featuring state-of-the-art power and steam generation systems, gas and water receiving systems, and gas insulated switchgear interconnections, the plant is designed to meet the stringent efficiency standards imposed by the Saudi Energy Efficiency Centre.

 Moreover, the project has provision for the future installation of a carbon capture plant and is capable of hydrogen co-firing. The SATORP strategic expansion petrochemical complex is expected to house one of the largest mixed-load steam crackers in the GCC region.