Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), alongside GS Inima, a global leader in water desalination by reverse osmosis, and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) announced the successful financial closing of the $444 million (AED1.6 billion) low-carbon intensive Shuweihat 4 Reverse Osmosis Seawater Desalination Project (S4 RO).
The project is primarily funded through debt financing from both local and international banks, including Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH (KFW) and The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM).
Farid Al Awlaqi Executive Director – Generation TAQA Group
“TAQA has established itself as the UAE’s leading utility company for owning and operating large-scale reverse osmosis water desalination plants. S4 RO will further enhance our existing portfolio and our strong pipeline of RO projects that are bringing us closer to meeting our 2030 target for deploying efficient RO technology within our water generation portfolio. TAQA’s water generation capacity will be over 1,250 MIGD, making us a major player in water desalination. Additionally, RO plants play a key role in supporting our 2030 ESG targets, with the decoupling of power and water production allowing us to significantly reduce the overall carbon footprint of our water generation operations, advancing the UAE’s net-zero targets and positioning Abu Dhabi as a low-carbon desalination leader.”
According to the statement, the S4 RO financial closing comes after TAQA and GS Inima signed the water purchase agreement with EWEC in August 2023. S4 RO is TAQA’s second utility-scale reverse osmosis plant to reach financial close in 2023 and the second major reverse osmosis project awarded by EWEC this year, following the Mirfa 2 Reverse Osmosis Seawater Desalination Project in the first half of 2023.
The S4 RO project is 60 percent owned by TAQA and 40 percent by GS Inima. Both companies will also take on the operations and maintenance (OM) of the plant, with 60 percent of the OM company owned by GS Inima and 40 percent by TAQA.
“We are delighted that we have reached financial close with our partners on S4 RO, the second strategically important, world-class reverse osmosis project to reach this major milestone in 2023. S4 RO will grow EWEC’s RO production capacity and strengthen the security of supply, becoming our sixth RO project,” commented Mr. Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC.
