Gulf Construction Online - Acwa’s IWP gets first green loan recognition

UAE Focus

Taweelah IWP ... aimed to be the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world.

Acwa’s IWP gets first green loan recognition

01 April 2020

Saudi-based Acwa Power, in co-ordination with investment bank Natixis, has announced that its key project Taweelah IWP, the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant coming up in Abu Dhabi, has obtained the first-ever ‘sustainable loan’ qualification for a water desalination project globally.

Acwa Power is the lead developer and operator of the project and a 40 per cent shareholder, with the remaining 60 per cent contributed by the Government of Abu Dhabi through Abu Dhabi Power Corporation and Mubadala Development Company.

Natixis acted as initial mandated lead arranger, documentation bank, hedge provider, global facility agent and sustainable loan coordinator. It also is the sole arranger and investment agent under the Islamic Equity Bridge Loan for Acwa Power’s equity portion.

According to Acwa, Taweelah IWP got the “sustainable loan” qualification as the project finance loan is aligned with the four components of both the Green Loan Principles and the Social Bond Principles.

Closed in September last year, this $758-million project finance loan, with a contractual tenor of 32.4 years, will finance what will become the largest reverse osmosis plant in the world when completed in 2022.

According to Acwa, this project finance loan is dedicated to the financing of the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a state-of-the-art, 200-million-gallons-per-day reserve osmosis plant and associated infrastructure and facilities.

The plant will be constructed at the existing Taweelah complex in Abu Dhabi. The project also includes a 68 MW peak photovoltaic power plant to complement the energy supply from the procurer’s grid.

Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec), a fully-owned entity of Abu Dhabi government and the water and power supplier of the region, is the sole offtaker of the project under a 30-year contract.