UAE - Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power has completed all financing agreements of the 900MW fifth phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) owns 60% of Shuaa Energy 3 project, the fifth phase of the solar park, while the remaining stake is held by the ACWA-Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) consortium.
With one of the world's lowest costs of electricity at $1.6953 cents per kWh, the project includes the construction of the 900MW solar PV plant by using bi-facial panels with tracking technology of a total value of $564 million
The project is funded by limited recourse project financing with the senior debt granted by a number of international, regional, and local banks.
In addition, the fifth phase is financed through a project recourse mezzanine tranche committed by a regional bank, structured as a c. 27-year soft mini-perm financing with both conventional and Islamic tranches.
The financing structure also featured a set of equity bridge loans provided by local banks and also by DEWA.
The President and CEO of ACWA Power, Paddy Padmanathan, said: "Securing this amount of long tenor project financing for Shuaa Energy 3 even as COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause social and economic disruption to the entire world illustrates the combined capabilities and trusted partnership between ACWA Power and DEWA."
Meanwhile, the Chief Investment Officer of ACWA Power, Rajit Nanda, noted: "Project financing of this magnitude having been successfully raised from nine project finance lenders in the midst of a global pandemic, is the ultimate testament to DEWA’s credibility as a counterparty and the success of their IPP programme."
It is noteworthy to mention that China-headquartered Sungrow has signed a partnership agreement to provide the 900 MW fifth phase of the Solar Park with its 1500V turnkey inverter solution to solve the minimised energy cost issue.
