Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) have achieved financial closure on its 1GW Al Dhafra Power Plant, which will provide power to data centre projects in the UAE.
Construction of the Al Dhafra Gas Turbine project has already started and is being developed by TAQA at an accelerated pace. The total cost of the project, which will advance the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, is approximately AED3.6 billion (US$1 billion).
Delivering up to 1GW of baseload power every day generated from renewable energy, Al Dhafra plant will be the largest combined solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) in the world.
Nearly 85 per cent of primary funding is through debt financing from local and international banks, including, Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Doha Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, ICBC, KFW, National Bank of Kuwait, RAK bank, Woori Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Boubyan Bank and Ajman Bank.
TAQA retains full project ownership
TAQA owns 100 per cent of the project company, as well as the operation and maintenance (O&M) company, and will build, own and operate the 1 GW plant. The financial close of this critical infrastructure project follows the announcement of TAQA signing a 24-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with EWEC in April.
Dr Frank Possmeier, Chief Investment Officer, TAQA’s Generation business, commented: “AI represents a major opportunity for both economic growth and increased energy demand. Meeting this demand requires an agile, secure, and sustainable energy mix that prioritises decarbonisation and flexibility.
“The Al Dhafra Gas Turbine Power Plant exemplifies this approach. TAQA has taken the project from inception to development, and now to financial close at record speed – demonstrating our agility and commitment to supporting the rapid growth in energy needs driven by AI data centres.
“The plant also plays a crucial role in providing flexible baseload power that enables greater integration of renewable energy into the system. We are proud to celebrate this milestone, and landmark projects like this reinforce TAQA’s position as a market leader for reliable, sustainable power generation.”
Advancing UAE’s low-carbon power grid
TAQA Transmission, part of TAQA Group, will develop advanced power grid infrastructure to integrate the additional generation capacity to new sources of energy demand, enabling access to reliable power with a low carbon footprint.
Mohamed Almarzooqi, Chief Asset Development & Management Officer of EWEC, added: “As a key enabler of the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, Al Dhafra facility provides the critical energy infrastructure required to power the next generation of data centres and strengthen the nation’s position as a global leader.
“Furthermore, the flexible baseload power delivered by this plant complements our growing pipeline of utility-scale renewables and battery storage, providing the essential transitional capacity needed to integrate significantly higher levels of clean energy into the grid.”
The Al Dhafra plant is part of the announced investment of AED36 billion (appx US$10 billion) in energy supply infrastructure in Abu Dhabi by EWEC, TAQA, and Masdar.
Through its own growth aspirations and its 43 per cent shareholding in Masdar’s renewable energy company, TAQA aims to grow to 150GW of gross power generation by 2030.
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