Taqa and Dubal Holding to buy EGA’s power and water plant in $1.9bn deal

Abu Dhabi National Energy company, known as Taqa, and Dubal Holding will acquire Emirates Global Aluminium’s water and power generation assets in Al Taweelah for $1.9 billion in a push to boost clean energy development in Abu Dhabi.

The acquired assets will be held under a joint venture company, with the ownership shared equally between Taqa and Dubal, Taqa said in a statement on Thursday to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

Operations will be managed by a new company jointly owned by Taqa and EGA.

Al Taweelah power plant, with a capacity of 3.1 gigawatts, is the third largest in Abu Dhabi. It also has a desalination capacity of 23.6 million litres per day.

Dubal is the investment arm of the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the sovereign wealth fund of the emirate's government, while EGA is the largest industrial company in the UAE outside of the energy sector.

As part of the deal, the Taqa and Dubal joint venture company signed an agreement with Emirates Water and Electricity Company under which Ewec will purchase power from Al Taweelah plant until 2049 to help it integrate renewables and clean energy into Abu Dhabi grid.

The deal also involves Taqa Transmission buying EGA’s electricity transmission assets as it undertakes a project to increase the overall interconnection capacity from the main grid to EGA’s sites from 640 megavolt-amperes to 3,360 megavolt-amperes, with completion expected in 2027.

“The acquisition of EGA’s Al Taweelah power assets enhances our portfolio and supports our 2030 ambition of reaching 150 gigawatts of power generation capacity globally,” said Jasim Thabet, group chief executive and managing director of Taqa.

Representatives of Emirates Global Aluminium, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, Dubal Holding, and Emirates Water and Electricity Company at the signing of the deals.