EDF, KOWEPO to build 1.5 GW solar project in UAE

Korea Western Power Co. (KOWEPO) and EDF Renewables have signed a joint development agreement for a 1.5 GW solar farm in Khazna, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The partners also recently won another project of the same size in the Al-Ajban region.

March 26, 2024 Marija Maisch

The 2 GW Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Project

Image: EWEC

From pv magazine International

South Korea’s KOWEPO and France’s EDF Renewables have joined forces to develop a 1.5 GW solar project in the Al Khazna region of Abu Dhabi. The PV plant is expected to be delivered by 2027.

The tender for the construction of the project was launched in September 2023. Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Water and Electricity Co. (EWEC) said that the 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 partners are 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 project for KOWEPO and EDF Renewables in the UEA. Only a month ago, the partners won 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 did not issue any official statement regarding its involvement in the Ajban and Khazna projects at the time of publishing, but pv magazine has requested additional details from the French developer.

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.

EDF Renewables, Masdar, TAQA, and Jinko Power collaborated to deliver the Dhafra project, which was planned and procured by EWEC and tendered in 2019 to be operational by early 2022.

In partnership with KOWEPO, EDF Renewables is developing another major project in the Middle East, the 500 MW Manah 1 solar plant in Oman. In January, the partners said that they had reached financial close on the project.

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.

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