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Taqa and Ewec sign Dhafra OCGT and grid contracts

3 April 2025

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and state utility and offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) have signed a 24-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) to build, own and operate an open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) project in Abu Dhabi.

The Al-Dhafra OCGT project will have a capacity of 1,000MW.

Taqa will own 100% of the project and undertake the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the plant, the firms said in a joint statement issued on 3 April.

MEED previously reported that the Italian original equipment manufacturer, Ansaldo Energia, will supply gas turbines for the project.

The project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract is also expected to be formally awarded imminently to a team of South Korean and local contractors, according to industry sources. 

In addition to the Dhafra OCGT project, Taqa Transmission, previously Transco, agreed to develop advanced power grid infrastructure to integrate the additional generation capacity to new sources of energy demand, enabling access to “reliable power with a low carbon footprint”.

According to Taqa and Ewec, both schemes will support the round-the-clock solar and battery energy storage system (bess) project, which Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Ewec announced in January.

Related read: Masdar meets renewable’s moonshot challenge

That project, comprising a 5.2GW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and 19 gigawatt-hours bess plant, aims to deliver up to 1GW of “baseload” power from renewable sources “24 hours a day, seven days a week”.

These projects aim to advance the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 and the UAE Net Zero by 2050 initiative.

“The collaboration between Ewec, Taqa and Masdar will drive investment of around AED36bn ($9.8bn) in energy supply infrastructure in Abu Dhabi with around 75% of that to be invested in renewable and conventional power generation.

“The remaining 25% will be invested in grid infrastructure, which will be added to the regulated asset base and will receive the regulated return,” the firms said.

The round-the-clock solar plus bess project is understood to require $6bn in investment, which implies that the BOO contract for the Dhafra OCGT is roughly $1.35bn.

The advanced grid infrastructure will account for the remaining $2.45bn.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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