Hassyan Energy Company, a joint venture between Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) (51%) and ACWA Power Harbin Holding Company (49%), has signed the EPC agreement with both Harbin Electric International and General Electric (GE) for the Hassyan Energy Phase 1 P.S.C.
The EPC agreement pushes forward the development of the project, which will produce 2,400 MW of net electricity using clean coal, and works towards achieving the objectives outlined in Dubai’s CleanEnergy Strategy 2050, in particular the fifth pillar, which prioritizes environmentally friendly energy according to the following percentages: 25% solar energy, 7% nuclear energy, 7% clean coal, and 61% natural gas by 2030. The first unit is expected to be operational by March 2020 – before Expo 2020 in Dubai.
Hassyan Clean Coal IPP is the first clean coal power plant in the Middle East. The ultra-supercritical plant will deliver best in class performance on efficiency, output and adherence to global environmental best practices.
Commenting on the signing, H.E Saeed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA said: “The project reflects our commitment to following through on the vision of his HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, to diversify the energy mix and develop our country’s resources, in our bid to achieve Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which considers the production of electricity through the use of clean coal a key component. Hassyan will utilize the latest global clean coal technologies, such as the ultra-supercritical technology, and the latest environmental standards. Hassyan Clean Coal IPP will also be implemented under a BOO model.”
Commenting on the agreement, Mr. Mohammed Abunayyan, Chairman of ACWA Power, said: “By signing this agreement today, we have taken a significant step towards starting the engineering and construction works as per the stated timeframe for the first plant of generating electricity with clean coal in the Gulf region within our strategic businesses and projects in the UAE. We are committed to supporting, with all our best-in-class expertise, capabilities and technologies, Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy 2050. I am fully confident that signing the EPC agreement with Harbin Electric International and General Electric (GE) will secure the delivery of the required works efficiently and with high quality results.”
Qu Aimin, Vice-Chairman of Harbin Electric International added: “As a Chinese saying goes, distance tests a horse’s strength, time will reveal a person’s sincerity. With our state of art service and high efficient EPC teams, we will put in place all efforts, and make Hassyan plant a bench-marking project in Dubai and beyond.”
Andreas Lusch, President & CEO of GE’s Steam Power Systems, said: “The Hassyan Clean Coal IPP is a flagship project that highlights the focus of the UAE government and DEWA to diversify the region’s energy mix in a clean and sustainable way. Along with our partners, GE is proud to celebrate this significant milestone in a project that will showcase our highly efficient ultra-supercritical coal technology to help meet Dubai’s growing demand for efficient and reliable power, at very competitive costs, while keeping an exceptionally low environmental footprint.”
Importantly, the Hassyan plant will operate in compliance with aggressive emissions and environmental international standards. To help further guarantee compliance, the power plant will meet the limits set for flue gas emissions which are stricter than the emission limits in the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) of the European Union and in the International Finance Corporation (IFC) guidelines.
The signing of the EPC agreement follows the close of the 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between DEWA and ACWA Power for the development of phase one of the project.
Phase 1 of the project consists of four units of 600 MW net power each, which will respectively be operational in March 2020, March 2021, March 2022 and March 2023.
