South Korea’s KOWEPO and France’s EDF Renewables have joined forces to bid for a 1.5 GW solar project in the Al Khazna region of Abu Dhabi. The PV plant is expected to be delivered by 2027.
EWEC invited expressions of interest from developers in September 2023. It said that the prospective developer of the Khazna Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Project would be awarded a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), with the utility as the sole procurer of electricity.
The winning party is expected to handle the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance, and ownership of the plant.
South Korean media outlets have reported that the signing ceremony of the Khazna joint development agreement took place in Dubai last week in the presence of senior company officials.
This is the second major collaboration for KOWEPO and EDF Renewables in the UEA. The partners are already in advanced discussion with EWEC for the 1.5 GW Ajban solar project. In July 2023, EWEC announced that it received four proposals for the project in the Ajban area of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It first launched the tender in May 2022.
EDF Renewables was also involved in another major project in the UAE – the 2 GW Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Project. Abu Dhabi officials inaugurated the projects, which were described as the world’s largest single-site power plant, in November 2023, just before the UAE hosted the COP 28 climate change conference.
The consortium signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company in March 2023. The Mahah plant is expected to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2025.
The Manah 1 project is the first for EDF Renewables and KOWEPO in Oman and is part of the consortium's strategy to support the region's net-zero ambitions.
This article was amended on April 18 to state that EDF and KOWEPO will bid for the 1.5 GW Khazna project rather than they have won it as previously reported.
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