The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has arranged a one billion-dollar-loan for a giant power and water project in the United Arab Emirates, a newspaper reported Thursday.
France's BNP Paribas, Citibank and the Abu Dhabi investment company are participating in the package which has a tenor of 18.5 years and a variable price structure, the Khaleej Times said, quoting NBAD chief executive Michael Tomalin.
A Franco-Belgian consortium of TotalFinaElf and Tractebel won the contract for the 1.4 billion dollar power generation project to upgrade and refurbish Taweelah A-1, Abu Dhabi's second independent power and water plant.
TotalFinaElf-Tractebel holds 40 percent in a new utility company to implement the build-own-operate (BOO) project, with the state-owned Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority picking up the remaining 60 percent.
The contract aims to add 500-750 megawatts to Taweelah A-1's current capacity of 225 megawatts and more than double its water desalination capacity.
A TotalFinaElf official said they had not yet been notified of a decision on the contract.
Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. It launched a program to privatize utilities in 1997 to encourage the role of the private sector and diversify its oil-dependent economy – DUBAI (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
