Abu Dhabi state utility and offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) conducted an investor roadshow last week for its upcoming combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) independent power project (IPP).

Ewec met with at least six utility developers separately, according to sources familiar with the scheme.

MEED previously reported that Ewec is considering issuing a tender in the next few weeks for its first gas-fired IPP since 2020.

It is understood that the planned Taweelah C IPP is expected to have a generation capacity of roughly 2,700MW.

The power-purchase agreement (PPA) for Taweelah C is expected to expire by 2049, which is several years shorter than previous PPAs and in line with the UAE's plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

A team of UK-based Alderbrook Finance and US-based Sargent & Lundy are providing financial and technical advisory services to Ewec for the Taweelah C IPP.

The greenfield IPP is planned to reach commercial operation by 2027, according to a recent Ewec capacity procurement statement.

Andy Biffen, executive director of asset development at Ewec, told the recent World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi that the request for proposals (RFPs) for its next CCGT plant will explicitly require the developers or developer consortiums to accommodate the installation of carbon-capture facilities once these solutions are commercially viable.

The state utility is considering new gas-fired capacity in light of expiring capacity from several independent water and power producer (IWPP) facilities.

The plants that will reach the end of their existing contracts during the 2025-29 planning period include:

•  Shuweihat S1 (1,615MW, 101 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD)): expires in June 2025
•  Sas Al Nakhl (1,670MW, 95MIGD): expires in July 2027
•  Taweelah B (2,220MW, 160MIGD): expires in October 2028
•  Taweelah A1 (1,671MW, 85MIGD): expires in July 2029

Ewec and the developers and operators of these plants are expected to discuss whether a contract extension is possible before the expiry of the contracts. Unsuccessful negotiations will result in the dismantling of the assets at the end of the contract period.

In 2022, MEED reported that Abu Dhabi had wound down the operation of Taweelah A2, the region's first independent water and power project. The power and water purchase agreement supporting the project expired in September 2021 and was not extended.

Ewec awarded its last CCGT IPP nearly four years ago. Japan's Marubeni Corporation won the contract to develop the Fujairah F3 IPP in 2020.