Ewec signs Ajban solar PV contract
19 April 2024
Abu Dhabi state utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has signed an agreement for the development and operation of Abu Dhabi’s third utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power project (IPP).
A team led by French utility developer EDF Renewables and including South Korea's Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo) won the 1,500MW Al Ajban solar PV IPP contract.
Ewec announced the official signing of the contract on 18 April, the final day of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
As with previous solar PV projects in the emirate, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) will own a stake in the special purpose vehicle that will implement the project.
It is the second major contract won by the French-South Korean team in the GCC since March last year. The team previously won the contract to develop and operate the 500MW Manah 1 solar IPP in Oman.
EDF, along with Masdar and Saudi contracting company Nesma, also won the contract to develop and operate the 1,100MW Hinakiyah solar IPP project in Saudi Arabia in November.
The EDF-led team submitted the lowest levelised electricity cost of 5.1921 fils a kilowatt-hour (kWh) or about 1.413 $cents/kWh for the Al Ajban solar PV IPP contract, as MEED reported in July 2023.
Japan’s Marubeni submitted the second-lowest bid of 5.3577 fils/kWh.
Ewec requested proposals for the contract in January 2023 and received bids in late June 2023. It qualified 19 companies to bid for the contract in September 2022.
Delivering goals
The Al Ajban project – similar to the 1,584MW Al Dhafra solar IPP, which was inaugurated in November, and the operational 935MW Noor Abu Dhabi plant – supports the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 and the UAE Net-Zero by 2050 strategic initiative.
Ewec aims to install up to 17GW of solar PV capacity by 2035.
The plan will require the procurement of about 1.5GW of capacity annually over the next 10 years. Over the intervening period, ending in 2030, Ewec plans to have an additional 5GW of solar capacity, reaching a total solar installed capacity of 7.3GW by 2030.
Ewec expects its first battery energy storage system to come online in the late 2020s to boost balancing the grid's load as more renewable energy enters the system.
The UAE published its updated national energy strategy in July last year. It includes a plan to triple the nationwide renewable energy capacity to 19GW by 2030.
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Exclusive from Meed
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Oman signs PPA for 125MW Dhofar 2 wind project12 November 2025
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Firms seek to prequalify for Oman waste-to-energy project10 November 2025
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Teams form for Riyadh stadium PPP10 November 2025
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Retal awards $259m Jubail residential construction deal10 November 2025
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Oman signs PPA for 125MW Dhofar 2 wind project
12 November 2025
Singapore's Sembcorp Utilities and local firm OQ Alternative Energy (OQAE) have won a contract to develop the 125MW Dhofar 2 wind independent power project in Oman.
The contract was awarded by state offtaker Nama Power & Water Procurement Company (Nama PWP) under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Under the PPA, Sembcorp and OQAE will form a joint venture to build, own and operate the wind farm, which will supply power to Nama PWP once operational.
The equity split will give Sembcorp 75% and OQAE 25%, a source close to the project told MEED.
Nama PWP said that it will allocate a portion of contracted works for the Dhofar 2 project to Omani small and medium-sized enterprises under its in-country value programme.
The project is expected to begin commercial operations in the third quarter of 2027.
The facility, valued at about OR43m ($112m), will be located on a 12-square-kilometre site in Dhofar Governorate.
The project comprises 20 Windey WD200 turbines, each with a 6.25MW capacity. Each turbine stands 215 metres tall and will be connected to the national grid via a 400kV substation.
The development will provide clean electricity to more than 18,000 homes and will cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 158,000 tonnes a year.
It is also expected to generate about 396,754 megawatt-hours and free up around 76 million cubic metres of natural gas annually.
Sembcorp has over 1.1GW of energy assets in Oman. In September, the firm signed a new 10-year power and water purchase agreement with Nama PWP for its Salalah independent water and power plant.
According to Nama PWP, the offtaker has contracted 26 water and desalination plants, exceeding $11bn in investment, over the past 15 years.
Chief energy transition officer at Nama PWP, Abdullah Bin Rashid Al-Sawafi, said the company "plans to attract a further $5bn over the next five years, mainly in renewable energy and storage technologies".
This includes an extra 9GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, representing 60% of total contracted capacity.
Oman aims to have 30% of its electricity generation from renewable sources by the same year.
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Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the November 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Construction completed for Shuqaiq 4 desalination plant
11 November 2025
Construction and commissioning works on Saudi Arabia's Shuqaiq 4 desalination plant have been completed, according to Spain's Acciona.
Located on the Red Sea coast, the seawater reverse osmosis facility has a capacity of 400,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) and will provide potable water to about 3.5 million people.
The main contract for the project was awarded in 2021 by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation to a consortium of Acciona and local partner Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting.
The facility is located adjacent to the operational Shuqaiq 3 independent water project (IWP), a separate project and Saudi Arabia’s second IWP.
The main contract was awarded by Water & Electricity Company – which is now known as Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) – in January 2019 to a team led by Japan’s Marubeni and the local Abdul Latif Jameel.
The consortium also comprises Acciona and the local Rawafid Al-Hadarah Holding Company.
Together, the two plants add nearly 850,000 cm/d of capacity to the national network, including Jizan, Asir and surrounding regions.
Additionally, SWPC is planning to undertake the construction of the Al-Shuqaiq 4 IWP, including a desalination facility with a capacity of 400,000 cm/d.
Almost 40 companies have submitted statements of qualifications. The main contract has yet to be tendered.
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Firms seek to prequalify for Oman waste-to-energy project
10 November 2025
Oman’s state offtaker Nama Power & Water Procurement (Nama PWP) has received 18 statements of qualification from international and local companies for the planned waste-to-energy (WTE) project in Barka, South Al-Batinah Governorate.
The project will be Oman’s first large-scale WTE facility, with a generation capacity of 95MW-100MW.
According to Nama PWP, the facility will be developed on a 190,000-square-metre site and is scheduled to reach commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2030.
US/India-based Synergy Consulting is acting as financial adviser to Nama PWP for the project.
The plant is expected to contribute 757 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 302,000 tonnes a year.
It will process up to 3,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day using grate incineration technology.
The following companies submitted statements of qualifications:
- Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
- Al-Ramooz National (Oman)
- Al-Tasnim Enterprise (Oman)
- Aspec for Contracting & Environmental Consultancy (Oman)
- China Communications Construction (China)
- China Everbright Environment Group (China)
- China Tianying (China)
- Eco Vision (Oman)
- Emirates Waste to Energy (UAE)
- Eternal Industrial Investment (China)
- FCC Medioambiente Internacional (Spain)
- Future Vision Engineering Services (Oman)
- Horsol Switz Engineering Asia (Singapore)
- Hunan Junxin (China)
- Itochu Corporation (Japan)
- Kanadevia Inova (Switzerland)
- Keppel Seghers Engineering Co (Singapore)
- Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons (Kuwait)
- NV Besix (Belgium/UAE)
- Oman National Engineering & Investment (Oman)
- Paprec Group (France)
- Satarem America (US)
- Seven Seas Petroleum (Oman)
- Shanghai Environment Group (China)
- Shanghai SUS Environment (China)
- Shenzhen Energy Group (China)
- Sinoma Energy Conservation (China)
- Suez International SAS (France/Oman branch)
- Veolia Middle East (France)
- Urbaser (Spain)
In August, MEED reported that Oman had finally moved to the prequalification phase following attempts to start work on the project to develop a WTE facility for several years.
In 2019, when it was known as Oman Power & Water Procurement Company, Nama PWP is understood to have started the process to appoint consultants for the project, based on an independent power producer model.
It later put the project on hold, only to revive the prequalification and procurement process, along with Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (Beah), in 2023.
Beah will supply the waste feedstock for the project, which is part of a long-term plan to convert municipal waste into energy and reduce landfill dependency, supporting Oman’s net-zero emissions target for 2050.
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Teams form for Riyadh stadium PPP
10 November 2025
At least four teams have formed joint ventures to bid for a contract to develop Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium in Sports City, Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s Sports Ministry is developing the project in collaboration with the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP) and Riyadh Region Municipality.
MEED understands the teams that have been formed include:
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The clients issued the expressions of interest and request for qualifications notice in August, as MEED previously reported.
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Retal awards $259m Jubail residential construction deal
10 November 2025
Saudi private real estate developer Retal Urban Development Company (Retal) has awarded a SR972m ($259m) contract to its majority-owned contracting subsidiary, Building Construction Company (BCC).
The contract covers the design and construction of 901 residential units and the development of associated infrastructure works in Jubail Industrial City.
The contract duration is 40 months following the handover of the land to Retal.
In November 2023, Jubail & Yanbu Industrial Cities Services Company (Jabeen) and Retal signed a land transfer agreement worth SR1.2bn ($320m).
Retal has awarded major construction contracts to BCC recently. In March, Retal awarded a $131m contract to BCC for the construction of 371 residential units and associated infrastructure works in gigaproject developer Roshn’s Sedra housing community in Riyadh.
In January, Retal awarded another contract to BCC for the construction of 285 residential units in the Murcia zone of the Khuzam suburb of Riyadh.
The duration of this SR374m ($100m) contract is 2.5 years from the start of construction.
The construction work was slated to start immediately and the project is expected to be completed in 2027.
Prior to this, Retal awarded a SR240m ($64m) contract to BCC in April 2024 for the construction of eight residential buildings in Roshn’s Sedra community.
Retal was established in 2012 by the local Al-Fozan Holding Company to develop real estate projects in the kingdom.
Al-Fozan Holding Company also owns BCC, which is the contracting arm of the group.
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