The Al Ajban Solar Photovoltaic ( PV ) Independent Power Producer ( IPP ) project in Abu Dhabi has reached financial close.

Financing for the project has been secured from BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC Middle East, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ( SMBC ), and Export-Import Bank of Korea ( Kexim ). Norton Rose Fulbright advised the lenders.

The project company is owned by EDF Renewables and Korea Western Power ( Kowepo ), each with a 20% stake, and Masdar as the local shareholder with a 60% stake. It has signed a 30-year power purchase agreement ( PPA ) with the Emirates Water and Electricity Company ( Ewec ), and will design, finance, build and operate the plant.

“Our valued partnership with EDF, Ewec and Kowepo on the Al Ajban Solar PV plant highlights the importance of harnessing our mutual experience and expertise to deliver utility-scale clean energy projects," says Masdar chief executive officer Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi. "Partnerships are vital to the energy transition and to achieving the objective of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030 set out in the UAE Consensus. With the development of Al Ajban, Abu Dhabi is home to three of the largest single-site solar plants in the world, making it a global leader in the adoption of utility-scale solar power.”

The project, located approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Abu Dhabi city, will have a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. Once fully commissioned in the third quarter of 2026, Al Ajban will be one of the world's largest single-site solar power plants, deploying approximately 3 million solar panels mounted on single-axis trackers to generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes across the United Arab Emirates.

Upon full commercial operation, the plant is expected to reduce Abu Dhabi's carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2.4 million tonnes per year. The power plant is part of the UAE strategic initiative towards achieving its net-zero goal by 2050.

"Solar power is one of the most cost-effective and low-carbon-intensive solutions for electricity generation," comments Ewec chief executive officer Othman Al Ali. "We are rapidly commissioning and deploying new utility-scale solar power projects to enable the generation of 7.5GW of solar PV by 2030, in addition to projects in support of UAE's next-generation energy infrastructure. The financial close of Al Ajban Solar PV is a further milestone in this key project that will enable our decarbonization of the UAE's energy sector.”

The project partners won a tender to build and operate the PV park in April. Solar energy deployment is expanding rapidly in Abu Dhabi. The 2GW Al Dhafra solar park was commissioned in late 2023, and bidding is underway for another massive project, the 1.5GW Al-Khazna solar plant.