PwC advises Ewec on solar and battery project
24 January 2025
The Middle East office of London-headquartered consultancy PwC has advised Abu Dhabi utility offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) on its solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (bess) project in Abu Dhabi.
PwC acted as the lead financial, commercial and development adviser to Ewec on its project with Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), PwC said in a social media post.
Ewec and Masdar signed the power-purchase agreement for the project earlier this month. The project involves developing 5,200MW of solar and 19 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of bess plants to provide round-the-clock solar power.
Masdar recently announced having selected India’s Larsen & Toubro and Beijing-headquartered PowerChina to undertake the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project.
MEED sources said the project will be developed across two sites.
Masdar also picked Shanghai-based Jinko Solar and Beijing-headquartered JA Solar to supply solar PV modules, it said in a statement on 17 January.
Another Chinese firm, Fujian-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Company (CATL), will supply the bess for the combined solar and bess project.
Abdulaziz Alobaidli, Masdar’s chief operating officer, signed and awarded the letters of award for the EPC contracts on 17 January.
Jinko Solar and JA Solar are the preferred suppliers for solar PV modules amounting to 2.6GW each, with maximum efficiency and production for 30 years.
CATL, as the preferred supplier for the bess, will supply its Tener technology for the 19GWh bess component of the project.
Powering AI
The project will help power advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies, supporting the delivery of the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 and the Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan announced the same day.
MEED first reported on the planned project in October, when Masdar started approaching potential co-developers and investors.
It is understood that Masdar is holding discussions with potential co-investors and developers in the project.
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The Opec+ alliance of oil producers has agreed a fourth increase in its oil output targets in as many months, even though the conflict involving Iran, the US and Israel is still preventing several members from pumping more crude.
The war has disrupted oil flows via the Strait of Hormuz, creating a severe supply crisis. Key Opec+ members, including Saudi Arabia, have been unable to supply customers in full since the end of February. The crisis for Opec+ deepened when the UAE left Opec after almost 60 years of membership.
Seven core members of Opec+ – which comprises Opec countries and a group of non-Opec states led by Russia – raised their output quotas from April to June by almost 600,000 barrels a day (b/d).
In practice, however, the group’s production has fallen sharply due to export cuts by Gulf members, averaging 33.19 million b/d in April compared with 42.77 million b/d in February, according to Opec figures.
At the latest meeting of Opec+ oil ministers on 7 June, the seven members agreed to increase targets by 188,000 b/d from July, Opec said in a statement. This matches the June hike, which was adjusted down from monthly increases of 206,000 b/d in April and May to take account of the UAE’s exit.
Iraq’s oil output quota will rise by 26,000 b/d from July under the agreement, an oil ministry spokesperson told Iraq’s state news agency.
On 5 June, oil prices fell to about $93 a barrel as traders gained confidence that renewed conflict between the US and Iran was becoming less likely. Prices were close to $72 before the war began on 28 February.
Brent crude rose sharply at the start of this week after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on the night of 7 June, heightening fears that US-Iran peace talks might once again collapse. Israel has since retaliated with strikes in western and central Iran, despite calls from US President Donald Trump not to respond to the Iranian missiles.
Brent crude jumped by around 4.5% early on 8 June and was trading at $97.52 a barrel as of 11am GST.
The seven key Opec+ members are increasing production as part of the gradual unwinding of a 1.65 million b/d production cut agreed in 2023 by the coalition, which at the time included the UAE.
From July, the seven have about 567,000 b/d of the original cut left to return to the market – taking into account the UAE’s exit from 1 May – according to Reuters calculations.
That would imply the remainder of the cut will be unwound by the end of September if Opec+ maintains monthly hikes of about 188,000 b/d in August and September.
The seven of the 21 Opec+ members who met on 7 June were Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia and Oman. In recent years, only these seven – plus the UAE when it was a member– have been involved in the group’s output-policy decisions.
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Opec+ is also reviewing members’ oil production capacity to use as a reference for 2027 production baselines, from which quotas are set. On Sunday, the group reaffirmed the importance of completing the assessment, the statement said.
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Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Deme wins dredging work for Tunisian ports8 June 2026
The Office de la Marine Marchande et des Ports (OMMP) has awarded Belgium’s Deme a contract to carry out dredging and marine works at three ports in Tunisia.
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Egypt firm wins South Med desalination design contract8 June 2026
Cairo-headquartered Engineering Experience Group (EEG) has won a design and engineering services contract for the planned South Med seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in Al-Dabaa, Egypt.
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Local firm Elsewedy Electric Infrastructure previously announced it was the main engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project.
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Israel has hit Iran’s Mahshahr petrochemicals complex in the country’s Khuzestan province, according to the Israeli military and reports in Iranian news outlets.
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In a separate statement, Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Economic Zone said that workers at the site had been evacuated.
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It has the nameplate capacity to produce 40,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and 40,000 t/y of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI).
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TDI and MDI are both used primarily as building blocks to create polyurethane products.
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Ora awards Unec a $517m UAE construction deal8 June 2026
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