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Ewec seeks firms for 3.3GW Al-Nouf power plant

11 March 2025

 

State utility and offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has issued a request for statements of qualifications (SOQs) from firms for a contract to develop a new combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power generation plant in Abu Dhabi.

The CCGT plant will be located at the Al-Nouf complex, 30 kilometres southwest of the city of Abu Dhabi.

The Al-Nouf 1 independent power project (IPP) will have a net generation capacity of approximately 3,300MW.

MEED understands that Ewec is in discussions with original equipment manufacturers regarding support for the prospective bidders in terms of the procurement process for the necessary gas turbines.

Ewec expects interested developers to submit their SOQs by 20 March and aims to issue the request for proposals before the end of March.

The estimated bid submission deadline will be in late August.

The Al-Nouf 1 CCGT plant is expected to reach commercial operations by June 2029.

MEED reported in September last year that Abu Dhabi plans to procure an estimated 5,000MW of gas-fired power plant capacity, mainly to support the UAE’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

Ewec is understood to be working with both Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) to implement the power plant projects that will support the UAE government’s AI strategy.

Taqa is conducting final negotiations for a contract to build an open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) power generation plant in Abu Dhabi's Al-Dhafra region, MEED recently reported.

The Al-Dhafra OCGT plant project is being tendered on a fast-track basis and is expected to have an installed capacity of 1,000MW-1,100MW.

Engineering, procurement and construction contractors are understood to have submitted their proposals for the contract in September last year. 

In January, Ewec and Masdar announced a project to build a solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (bess) project that will enable the round-the-clock supply of 1GW of solar power. It will comprise a 5GW solar PV plant and 19 gigawatt-hour bess plant.

Taweelah C

Ewec received a single proposal for a contract to develop the Taweelah C IPP project in late February.   

The Taweelah C IPP will have a generation capacity of up to 2,500MW and is expected to reach commercial operations in the third quarter of 2028.

Industry sources suggest that UAE-based Etihad Water & Electricity (Ethad WE) submitted the lone bid for the contract.

The Taweelah C IPP is the first gas-fired power plant project to be procured by Abu Dhabi since 2020, when Ewec awarded Japan’s Marubeni Corporation the contract to develop the Fujairah 3 IPP.

Taqa fiscal standing

Taqa completed its full 2024 fiscal year with a net income of AED7.1bn ($1.9bn), on the back of revenues that reached AED55.2bn.

This net income was only 1.5% higher than the year before, excluding one-off items worth AED10.8bn related to the acquisition of a 5% stake in Adnoc Gas and a AED1.1bn deferred tax charge due to the introduction of corporate tax in the UAE.

The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 5.9%, to AED21.4bn, in 2024. This declined by 31% compared to the year before, if the AED10.8bn acquisition of a 5% stake in Adnoc Gas is considered.

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