Oman´s largest solar plant reaches financial close

A consortium consisting of ACWA Power, GIC, and AEPC have achieved the financial closure for the 500 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Project (IPP) at Ibri in the Sultanate of Oman, which is also the largest utility-scale solar plant in the country as of date.

The US$400 million project will be funded on a debt to equity ratio of 70:30. A syndicate of six international and local lenders will provide the US$275 million senior debt. The mandated lead banks including Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Bank Muscat, Riyad Bank, Siemens Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Warba Bank, helped structure the largest utility-scale solar PV project in Oman on around 16.5-year door-to-door tenor.

This deal also represents the first renewable energy financing in Oman as well as the GCC region by AIIB, Beijing headquartered international multilateral development bank.

The 500 MWac Ibri II solar project is an Independent Power Project (IPP) which will be Oman’s largest utility-scale solar PV Independent Power Project. The project, to be developed on a BOO (build, own, operate) basis, will utilize cutting-edge Solar Photovoltaic Technology to generate 500 MWac of renewable power. At peak generation capacity, the plant output will be enough to supply an estimated 33,000 homes with electricity and will offset 340,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year. Located around 300km west of Muscat, Ibri-2 IPP will contribute towards increasing power supplies in the Sultanate. The term of the offtake contract for the project will be 15 years from the commercial operations date.