The Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) has announced the consortium of Abu Dhabi's Masdar, France's EDF Renewables and Korea's Korean Western Power Company (KOWEPO) as the winner of the Al Ajban Solar PV Independent Power Project.
The water and electricity supplier to the UAE market has now signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the winning consortium. Masdar is the local shareholder for the project.
EWEC did not reveal the winning tariff but said it will pay only for the net electrical energy supplied by the plant.
According to the terms of the PPA signed, the consortium will design, finance, build and operate the plant. On commissioning in Q3/2026, it will generate enough clean energy to power 160,000 households across the UAE and lower Abu Dhabi's carbon emissions by 2.4 million metric tons/year.
The tender for the 1.5 GW AC Al Ajban Solar Project was launched by EWEC in January 2023. Out of 43 applications it received to the expression of interest (EOI) round, EWEC shortlisted 19 companies and consortiums from which it has now picked the winning consortium (see Abu Dhabi's GW-Scale Solar Project Moves Forward).
Once the Al Ajban plant is online, EWEC says the UAE will become home to 4 of the world's largest single-site solar power plants, with 3 of them located in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. It refers to the Noor Abu Dhabi, Al Dhafra and Khazna solar plants. Recently, it launched a request for proposals (RFP) round for the 1.5 GW Khazna Solar Project (see EWEC Launches Request For Proposal Round For 1.5 GW PV).
"Our focus extends beyond the immediate benefits, and our advanced techno-economic analysis demonstrates the vital role that solar power plays in meeting both current and future energy demand of Abu Dhabi and the UAE," said EWEC CEO Othman Al Ali.
Between 2027 to 2037, EWEC aims to add 1.4 GW of new solar PV annually as it targets to provide more than 50% of Abu Dhabi's electricity from renewable and clean energy sources by 2030.