Hogan Lovells advises ACWA Power on the USD1.2bn Taweelah desalination IWP in Abu Dhabi

October 2019

Hogan Lovells has advised ACWA Power (ACWA) on the project financing of the Taweelah desalination Independent Water Project (IWP) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Financial close was achieved on October 16, 2019.

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. ACWA Power, AD Power and MDC Power each hold respective equity stakes of 40 per cent, 20 per cent and 40 per cent in the project company.

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

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).

ACWA Power commented, “The tariff offered by ACWA Power for the Al Taweelah IWP is the lowest achieved to date in the world for desalinated water and will utilize the lowest amount of energy per gallon of water produced.”

Commenting on the project, Sohail 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.”

Rahail Ali, office managing partner of the Dubai office said,”We are pleased to have supported one of the region’s leading developers on this transaction and are particularly pleased to do so in the United Arab Emirates. 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.”

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.