Developers Secure $1bn Financing For Sharjah Power Project

Developers have secured about $1 billion in financing for a 1.8 gigawatts (GW) power project in Sharjah.

Co-developers GE Energy Financial Services (GE EFS) and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, along with Shikoku Electric Power Company and Sharjah Asset Management, the investment arm of the Government of Sharjah, have closed financing, a statement said.

Securing financing for the Hamriyah Independent Power Company project will lead to the first independent combined cycle power project in Sharjah, it added.

Together, a consortium of banks and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), will co-finance the project

The co-developers have also formed an equity consortium for the project with Shikoku Electric Power Company and SAM to build, own and operate the project, which will consist of three combined cycle blocks, the first of which is planned to come online in 2021.

The project is expected to reach full commercial operations by the summer of 2023.

Susan Flanagan, GE Energy Financial Services’ Global Power leader, said: “Sourcing financing from the public and private sectors to fund Sharjah’s first independent combined-cycle power plant demonstrates the region’s attractiveness for foreign investment and GE’s ability to connect global capital to significant infrastructure projects.”

Norihiko Nonaka, general manager of Global Power Infrastructure Business Division, Sumitomo Corporation, added: “Sumitomo remains committed to supporting the continuing economic growth in the United Arab Emirates through the delivery of reliable, cost effective, clean and sustainable power from both our existing and new power infrastructure.”

GE will supply three 9HA gas turbines, three steam turbines, six generators, three heat recovery steam generators and turnkey engineering, procurement and construction services for its flagship power plant in Sharjah. GE will also provide parts, repairs and maintenance services for the power generation assets at the site for a period of 25 years.