The Al Taweelah A2 power and desalination plant has started full commercial operation in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The plant is now supplying both electricity and water to the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Corp under a 20 year power and water purchase agreement. The latter, through Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, owns 60 per cent of the project while US company CMS Energy, which is operating the plant, holds the remaining 40 per cent.
The plant is on the Arabian Gulf, 65 km northeast of Abu Dhabi. It comprises a 710 MW natural-gas fired combined cycle power unit and a water desalination facility capable of producing around 230 000 m3 of water each day. CMS Energy, which has annual sales of $15 billion and assets of $16 billion mainly in a wide range of power and fuel activities in the USA, managed the engineering, procurement and construction of the project and is operating the plant under a 20 year agreement.
The company and its partners recently closed financing for a further power and desalination project in Abu Dhabi worth $1.64 billion.
