Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power has secured a US$738 million debt package for the Hassyan Independent Water Producer (IWP) plant in Dubai.

The banks providing the 32.5-year facility include Standard Chartered, MUFG Bank, Emirates NBD, Korea Development Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Boubyan Bank, and Saudi Exim Bank.

Saudi Exim Bank is contributing US$75 million as part of its mission to help local developers to implement and operate major projects globally.

Hassyan is the first Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) project to be developed under the IWP model. Acwa Power won the tender process, and holds a 20.40% stake in the project company, Hassyan Water Company. The offtaker is Dewa under a 30-year water purchase agreement.

Reverse osmosis project

The US$920 million project is based on reverse osmosis (RO) technology, and comprises two blocks capable of producing 60 million gallons per day (migd) each.

The first block is scheduled to start operations in October 2025, with the second block coming online in April 2026.

“We are building water production plants based on RO, which requires less energy than multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) plants, making it a more sustainable choice for water desalination," says Dewa managing director and chief executive officer Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer. By 2030, Dewa aims to increase its water desalination capacity to 730 migd, from 490 migd at present.  

The Hassyan IWP plant is the world‘s largest RO water production project using solar energy. Dubai has massive solar generation capability via the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Solar park expansion

Dewa and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) recently announced the financial closing of the 1800-megawatt, sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, under an independent power producer (IPP) model.

For the sixth phase of the solar park, Dewa (60%) established Shuaa Energy 4 in partnership with Masdar (40%). The lending group to the project includes Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, and Warba Bank. The solar park’s capacity will exceed 5,000MW by 2030.

In June 2023 the 900MW fifth phase was inaugurated, using photovoltaic solar panels. The IPP project was implemented by Shuaa Energy 3, in a partnership between Dewa and a consortium led by Acwa Power and Gulf Investment Corporation.

Noor Energy 1 was established as a project company to design, build, and operate the fourth phase of the solar park. The consortium featured Dewa (51%), Acwa Power (25%), and the Silk Road Fund (24%).