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Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) said it has awarded the 1.5-gigawatt (GW) Khazna Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Project, located near Al Khazna area of Abu Dhabi, to France’s ENGIE and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar.
The power purchase agreement (PPA) was signed between EWEC and the two developers following the award, the company said in a statement on Friday.
The statement said the PPA is structured as an energy purchase agreement whereby EWEC will pay only for the net electrical energy supplied by the plant.
The statement didn't disclose tariff details or scheduled commercial operation date but said the project’s financial close is expected by the end of fourth quarter of 2025.
According to the statement, the Khazna Solar PV IPP will feature more than three million solar panels, and generate enough electricity to power approximately 160,000 homes across the UAE, avoiding more than 2.4 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions in Abu Dhabi per year.
Ahmed Ali Alshamsi, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, said: “Khazna Solar PV, our fourth world-leading utility-scale solar project, is a strategic asset that significantly accelerates our journey towards achieving the UAE’s renewable energy targets."
Solar IPPs operational in Abu Dhabi include the 2GW Al Dhafra, the 1.17 GW Noor Abu Dhabi and the 100 megawatts (MW) Shams 1.
In October 2024, EWEC said it had received three proposals from ENGIE, a consortium comprised of EDF Renewables and Korea Western Power (KOWEPO), and a consortium comprised of Jinko Power and JERA for the project.
The offt-taker had received 27 Expressions of Interest (EOI) from potential bidding companies and consortiums, with 19 qualifying for the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage after submitting Statements of Qualification.
In May 2025, Zawya Projects had reported that a consortium comprising EDF Power Solutions and Korea Western Power Company (KOWEPO) have signed a joint development agreement (JDA) for the 1.5 gigawatts (GW) Al Zarraf PV solar Independent Power Producer (IPP) project in Abu Dhabi.
EWEC aims to increase Abu Dhabi’s solar power generation capacity to 18 GW by 2035 and to meet 60 per cent of the Emirate’s total power demand from renewable and clean energy sources by 2035, in line with the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy’s (DoE) Clean Energy Strategic Target 2035 for Electricity Production in Abu Dhabi.
(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by SA Kader)
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