On April 13, 2018, the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) agreement with Shanghai Electric Generation Group (SEGC) for the DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) 700MW CSP project in Dubai was signed at a ceremony in China.
The project is the 4th phase of the Mohamed bin Rashid Solar Park, the largest thermo-solar power plant in the world. The project, which comes with a record low tariff of just USD 7.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kW/h), will feature a combination of a tower and parabolic troughs, which will collect heat and store it in molten salt to supply electricity on demand during the day and through the night. The CSP tower to be built at the site will the world's tallest CSP Tower, at 260m.
The agreement was signed in Shanghai in presence of representatives from the Chinese government, the embassies of the United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as senior officials from DEWA, ACWA Power, the Silk Road Fund, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China and China Minsheng Bank.
The EPC agreement pushes forward the development of the project, which represents a 14.2 Billion AED (USD 3.87 Billion) investment. The project is in the process of concluding the financing package. ICBC is acting as the mandated lead arranger and targeting to approve USD 1.5 billion of senior loan. This project is a flagship project for ICBC in supporting the three major Chinese power equipment suppliers, namely Shanghai Electric, Dongfang Electric and Harbin Electric, to 'go abroad' and break through the sophisticated and established power market. ICBC, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China will play an important role in the financing of the project, providing almost 80% of senior debt.
