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The construction of Sharjah's 1.8 gigawatts (GW) Hamriyah Independent Power Plant (IPP) is 75 percent complete, the project's Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor said on Sunday.
GE Gas Power said in a press statement that almost all the civil works, up to 90 percent of the procurement and over 75 percent of construction and commissioning works for the project is complete.
Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, had visited the site of the project, which is the first independent, and also the first combined cycle power plant in Sharjah, according to the press statement.
Saeed Sultan Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA), the project's off-taker, said the Hamriyah IPP is a key component of SEWA’s 2030 goal to boost Sharjah's installed power generation capacity to 4.6 GW. He said the plant is expected to generate up to almost 40 percent of Sharjah’s power output after completion.
GE Gas Power is also supplying three 9HA.01 gas turbines, six generators and three heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) for the facility, which will have three combined cycle blocks of three 600 megawatts each.
Energy Financial Services and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SEWA in 2018. The co-developers along with Shikoku Electric Power Company and Sharjah Asset Management, the investment arm of the Sharjah Government, formed a joint venture company - Sharjah Hamriyah Independent Power Company (SHIPCO) – in 2019 to build, own and operate the project.
Omar Al Mulla, Chairman of SHIPCO, said the combined cycle operations can help SEWA reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 4 million tonnes per year, compared to current levels - the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the UAE’s roads.”
Joseph Anis, President and CEO of GE Gas Power Europe, Middle East and Africa added that the Hamriyah IPP will build on GE's legacy in the emirate, with 60 percent of the Sharjah's power demand currently being met by 20 GE gas turbines.
The total financing amount for the project is approximately $1.13 billion with $555 million from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the rest from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, The Norinchukin Bank, Société Générale, and Standard Chartered Bank, according to a April 2019 press statement issued by JBIC.
The first of the plant's three combined cycle blocks was expected to come online in May 2021, according to a May 2019 press statement on Sumitomo's website.
(Writing by N Madhura; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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