Hogan Lovells, a leading global law firm, said it has advised Saudi-based Acwa Power on the project financing of the $1.2 billion Taweelah IWP, the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world coming up at Abu Dhabi.

The Taweelah desalination IWP will be developed on a build, own and operate (BOO) basis and have a production capacity of 200 million gallons per day (MIGD) of potable water, making it the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world. Financial close was achieved last week.

As per the deal, Acwa Power, AD Power and MDC Power each hold respective equity stakes of 40%, 20% and 40% in the project company.

The financing package contains both commercial and Islamic facilities from a group of leading regional and international financial institutions.

Acwa Power said its tariff offered for the Al Taweelah IWP was the lowest achieved till date in the world for desalinated water and added that it would utilize the lowest amount of energy per gallon of water produced.

For the Taweelah project, the Hogan Lovells team was led by Dubai-based projects partner Sohail Barkatali, with support from Rahail Ali (Partner, Dubai), Imran Mufti (Partner, Dubai), Alex Wong (Partner, Singapore), Tony Nicholson (Senior Associate, Dubai), Shaakir Daud (Associate, Dubai) and Zack Lin (Associate, Singapore).

Commenting on the project, Barkatali said: "We are pleased to share in the success of Acwa Power on this project and to have advised on the world's largest desalination facility."

"Taweelah IWP is a market-leading project, both in the region and globally and reiterates the strong Hogan Lovells brand in the power and water sector in the Mena region," he noted.

Acwa Power is a developer, investor, and operator of power generation and desalinated water plants, with over 50 assets in operation across more than 10 countries.

Ali said: "Hogan Lovells is pleased to have supported one of the region's leading developers on this transaction and are particularly pleased to do so in the UAE."

"Our market leading projects practice has recently advised on first of a kind, ground breaking projects across the Middle East which continues to remain an important focus and growth area for us," he added.

Hogan Lovells' Dubai team is also currently advising on other ground-breaking energy and natural resources projects and financings, not only in in the UAE, but across the wider Middle East region.

Hogan Lovells recently advised lenders to the winning bidder on the Sakaka solar PV IPP transaction in Saudi Arabia and advised the successful bidder on the Sharqiyah IWP project in Oman.-TradeArabia News Service

Copyright 2019 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.