A consortium of EDF, KEPCO and Kyushu Electric Power Co has signed a $3.6 billion strategic power transmission project, alongside the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Abu Dhabi National Electricity Company PJSC (TAQA), to develop and operate a high voltage direct current (HVDC-VSC) subsea transmission system, a first-of-its-kind in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The project will connect ADNOC’s offshore production operations with cleaner and more efficiently produced energy, delivered through the Abu Dhabi onshore power grid, owned and operated by TAQA’s transmission and distribution companies, and reduce ADNOC’s offshore carbon footprint by more than 30%, supporting the UAE goals to achieve ‘net zero’ by 2050.
The consortium will hold a combined 40% stake in the project and will develop and operate for 35 years the 3.2 GW transmission system alongside ADNOC and TAQA. Start of work is expected in 2022, with commercial operation to commence by 2025.
