Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), in partnership with Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), has announced the financial close of the AED3.6 billion, 1GW Al Dhafra Power Plant, a project aimed at supplying electricity to data centre developments and supporting the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031.
The project is being financed primarily through debt, with approximately 85% of the total funding secured from a consortium of local and international banks. These include Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Doha Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, ICBC, KfW, National Bank of Kuwait, RAKbank, Woori Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Boubyan Bank, and Ajman Bank.
Construction of the Al Dhafra gas turbine power plant has already commenced and is progressing at an accelerated pace. TAQA owns 100% of the project company and the operations and maintenance entity, and will build, own, and operate the facility. The financial close follows TAQA’s signing of a 24-year Power Purchase Agreement with EWEC in April.
TAQA stated that the project reflects its ability to progress large-scale energy infrastructure from concept to financial close within a compressed timeframe, in response to the rapid growth in electricity demand driven by AI-focused data centres. The plant is designed to provide flexible baseload power, supporting grid stability while enabling higher integration of renewable energy.
EWEC noted that the Al Dhafra Power Plant forms a key component of the UAE’s long-term energy planning, providing the transitional capacity required to integrate increasing volumes of renewable generation and battery storage into the national grid. The facility will also strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position as a regional hub for advanced digital infrastructure.
In parallel, TAQA Transmission will develop the necessary grid infrastructure to connect the additional generation capacity to emerging demand centres, ensuring reliable power delivery with a reduced carbon footprint.
The Al Dhafra plant is part of a broader AED36 billion investment programme in Abu Dhabi’s energy supply infrastructure announced by EWEC, TAQA, and Masdar. This programme includes Masdar’s planned 24/7 renewable energy project, combining large-scale solar generation with battery energy storage. The initiative is expected to deliver up to 1GW of continuous baseload power, making it the largest combined solar and battery energy storage system globally, while also supplying electricity to AI data centres.
TAQA, through its own expansion strategy and its 43% shareholding in Masdar’s renewable energy business, is targeting total gross generation capacity of 150GW by 2030, and stated that it remains on track to achieve this objective.
