TAQA-led Group Achieve Financial Closing for Two Power Plants

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), one of the largest listed integrated utility companies in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with JERA Co, Japan’s largest power generation company and AlBawani Capital, a subsidiary of AlBawani Holding, a leading and diversified contracting and development group, on Wednesday have announced the financial closing of two greenfield power plants in Saudi Arabia.

Combined, the two plants – Rihab ElAwal Power Company (Rumah 2) and Nawras Power Company (Al Nairyah 2) – represent an investment of around $4 billion, TAQA said in a bourse filing with Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) this morning.

The financing was secured from a consortium of leading regional and international lenders through senior debt and equity bridge loans. Senior debt leverage exceeds 80%, reflecting the strong fundamentals of the projects and lender confidence. Lending institutions include Al Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank, Saudi Awwal Bank, Saudi National Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Bank of China and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

This milestone was achieved under the supervision of the Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy in partnership with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), following the signing of two 25-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) between TAQA, JERA and AlBawani.

Together, the greenfield combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants will deliver approximately 3.6 GW of power generation capacity. The projects are being developed on a build, own and operate basis and will support the Kingdom’s growing energy need.

Construction will be undertaken through special purpose entities owned by TAQA (49%), JERA (31%) and AlBawani (20%). Operation and maintenance (O&M) will be carried out by dedicated O&M companies owned by the consortium under the same shareholding structure.

Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts were awarded to Harbin Electric International Co. Ltd and China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co. Ltd. Both plants will deploy highly efficient state-of-the-art, CCGT technology and are designed for future carbon capture integration, supporting the Ministry of Energy’s decarbonisation goals set out in the Saudi Vision 2030.

These projects also align with the Saudi Green Initiative’s ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through a circular carbon economy by 2060, TAQA said.

The consortium selected Siemens Energy LLC as the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the projects, with whom the O&M companies have entered into Long Term Service Agreements. The projects support the Kingdom’s optimum energy mix ambitions which aim to meet the growing power demand.

TAQA Is Partner of Choice

TAQA’s Generation business CEO Farid Al Awlaqi said that reaching financial close is an important milestone in the progress of the projects that reinforces TAQA’s position as a partner of choice for world-class utility projects.

“As lead developer of the two power plants, we will be bringing our global expertise and experience to the project, in support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s optimum energy mix ambitions. Notably, the construction of both plants is well underway with the early works phase concluding recently. We are developing the plants to be built for the future utilising the highest efficiency CCGT turbines, which demonstrates our firm commitment to growth and decarbonisation,” he added.

JERA’s Chief Global Strategist Steven Winn said that the achieving the financial closure of the plants as defined under their respective PPAs and finance agreements with the senior lenders.

The projects will strengthen JERA’s presence and contribution to the Kingdom in securing a reliable and sustainable energy supply. The projects shall have decarbonisation provision in line with JERA’s goal of achieving net-zero by 2050, he said.

AlBawani Holding CEO Eng. Fakher AlShawaf affirmed that achieving financial close marked a significant milestone in their ongoing commitment to supporting the Kingdom’s energy transition, in alignment with the ambitious goals of Vision 2030, and in partnership with TAQA and JERA.