Taqa and Saudi Aramco to develop greenfield power and desalination project

Taqa and Marubeni will hold the majority stake in the project through a special-purpose vehicle

Aramco's Dhahran oil plants, in eastern Saudi Arabia. The Taqa-Aramco project will supply electricity, steam and desalinated water to oil and gas facilities operated by the state oil company. AFP

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, also known as Taqa, will develop a large greenfield power and desalination project with Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest exporter of crude.

The 940-megawatt Tanajib cogeneration and desalination project will have a capacity of 1,084 tonnes per hour of steam and 5.25 million Imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water.

Taqa also signed a water and energy conversion agreement with Japan's Marubeni Corporation to develop a greenfield industrial facility that includes provisions for supporting infrastructure such as pipelines to connect the desalination and cogeneration plants with end users.

“Taqa has made a firm commitment to expand its generation capacity by up to 15 gigawatts internationally by 2030 and this project demonstrates the progress we are making on this while also expanding our existing footprint in Saudi Arabia,” Farid Al Awlaqi, Taqa Group’s executive director of generation, said.

Taqa, Saudi Aramco and Marubeni have developed a special purpose vehicle to develop the facilities. Taqa and Marubeni will hold the majority 60 per cent stake. The two companies will operate the plants for 20 years on the build, own, operate and transfer model. The project will supply electricity, steam and desalinated water to oil and gas facilities operated by Aramco.

Taqa is currently considering a possible sale of its oil and gas assets after a strategic review.

In September, the company said it was “assessing strategic options for the oil and gas division and the optimal course for its future development".

"All options will be considered, including the sale of some or all the assets, or the retention and development of the assets within the Taqa Group," the company said in a statement last month.

Taqa plans to invest Dh40 billion ($10.8bn) in infrastructure development, add about 27 gigawatts of power capacity by 2030 and expand its renewables portfolio.

Taqa has upstream and midstream assets in the UK North Sea, the Netherlands, Canada and the Kurdish region of Iraq.