GDF Suez and its partners have secured $1.3 billion in financing for the Barka 3 and Sohar 2 independent power projects in Oman.
The greenfield natural gas-fired power plants, which will each have a capacity of 744 MW when operational, carry a total investment cost of $1.7 billion.
Together the plants will add almost 1,500 MW to Oman’s existing capacity of around 3,600 MW. Their power output will be sold under two separate 15-year power purchase contracts to the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company, who will be the sole off-taker.
A consortium of eight banks—Natixis, KfW-IPEX, Credit Agricole, HSBC, Bayerische Landesbank, Europe Arab Bank, CIC and Standard Chartered Bank—and two export credit facilities, Euler-Hermes and KEXIM, are providing the loans for the projects
Early power for Barka 3 and Sohar 2 is expected to be commissioned by May 2012 and full completion of the plants is scheduled for April 2013.
GDF Suez is the leading private power developer in the Middle East, with a direct equity interest in nearly 17,000 MW and more than 2.8 million cubic metres of water per day of desalination capacity. Its assets are located in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.
Headquartered in Paris, GDF Suez employs 200,650 people worldwide and achieved revenues of €79.9 billion in 2009.
