The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is moving forward with its Hassyan clean coal power project, having signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and shareholders agreement with the ACWA Power and Harbin Electric consortium.
“Signing this agreement exemplifies the success of Public Private Partnerships and the importance of involving the private sector in enhancing efficiency, productivity and cost reduction, in addition to optimising resources, transferring the technology, and training and developing local skills in the energy industry. Moreover, signing a PPA with DEWA brings us closer to the completion of the financial close of the project to start its construction as per the stated timeframe,” said Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan, chairman of ACWA Power, in a prepared statement.
The first phase of the project is comprised of four units with an output of 600 megawatts each, which are hoped to be operational by March 2020 and March 2021. DEWA plans to launch two additional projects, to bring the total capacity to 3,600 megawatts.
The plant will employ ultra-supercritical technology and will output flue gas with greenhouse gas emissions below the limits set in the European Union’s Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and in the International Finance Corp. (IFC) Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines, according to a DEWA release.
The plant will be built by Harbin Electric and France-based Alstom. Alstom will handle the overall engineering, the supply and eventual commissioning of the power block, along with coordinating the balanced integration of all the plant’s components. It will also guarantee the plant’s performance. ACWA and Harbin will operate and maintain the facility in partnership with Alstom Power and U.S.-based NRG. Louis Dreyfus, a major European specialist company, will manage the coal-handling and transshipment facilities. France’s EDF Trading, one of the world’s largest coal traders, will manage the coal supply to the plant, the release says.
