Abu Dhabi has formed a joint venture company with a US-British consortium to manage a new water and power plant to be built next year in the emirate, government officials said Tuesday, November 20.
Shuweihat CMS International Power will be 60 percent owned by Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), while the remaining 40 percent will be split equally by British energy group International Power and US company CMS Energy, the officials said.
The new company, which has been capitalized at 675 million dirhams ($184 million), will operate and maintain power and desalination operations at the Shuweihat plant for 20 years. Construction on the plant, to be built 250 kilometers (150 miles) west of Abu Dhabi, is due to start immediately and the facility is expected to come on stream in 2004.
The plant will include a gas-fuelled 1,500-megawatt power plant and a water desalination facility with a capacity of 100 million imperial gallons per day.
The project is being financed through a $1.285-billion loan facility over 18 years and is lead arranged by Barclays Capital and Citibank. Other arrangers include Abu Dhabi Investment Co., National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Bank of Tokyo-Mistubishi, Germany's Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau and the Royal Bank of Scotland. — (AFP, Abu Dhabi)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
