In May Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) closed a project finance agreement for the 1.17-GW Noor Abu Dhabi, a project set to be the largest independent solar plant in the world. The photovoltaic (PV) facility will cost $872m – of which $650m will be debt and $222m equity – and is slated to be operational by the second quarter of 2019. Located in Sweihan, 120 km south-east of the capital, the project is being implemented by the Sweihan PV Power Company, a consortium led by ADWEA (60 percent) alongside Japan’s Marubeni Corporation (20 percent) and China’s JinkoSolar Holding (20 percent). The May announcement comes on the heels of a power purchase agreement in March stipulating that Marubeni and JinkoSolar would construct, own, operate and maintain the PV plant under a 25-year deal. In terms of capacity, Noor will be larger than India’s 648-MW Kamuthi Solar Power Project […]