Aby Dhabi Development Holding Company (ADQ) and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), an integrated utility company, have signed a long-term strategic agreement with Samruk-Kazyna, the sovereign wealth fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to explore opportunities in the clean energy sector in the central Asian country.
As part of the agreement, ADQ and its portfolio companies may invest up to $6 billion into energy projects in Kazakhstan and the entities will partner to create a holding company that will oversee and effectively manage any acquired assets.
ADQ, TAQA and Samruk-Kazyna will explore three greenfield power projects in Kazakhstan, including a 2 GW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant, a 2 GW wind power plant and a 1 GW combined-cycle gas-fired power plant. ADQ and TAQA would jointly hold a 51% stake in each project with Samruk-Kazyna holding the remaining interest.
TAQA would also be involved in the operations and maintenance of all three projects.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Askar Mamin, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Suhail AlMazrouei, Minister of Energy & Infrastructure in the UAE and was signed by Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, CEO of ADQ and Chairman of TAQA; Jasim Husain Thabet, TAQA’s Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, and Almasadam Satkaliyev, Chief Executive Officer of Samruk-Kazyna.
ADQ’s Alsuwaidi commented: “As one of the region’s largest investment companies and with Abu Dhabi’s largest portfolio of energy and utilities investments, we actively seek new investment opportunities where we can add value while contributing positively to the energy ecosystem. ADQ, together with our portfolio company, TAQA, is proud to work alongside Samruk-Kazyna to bring our sector expertise to Kazakhstan with these world-class projects that will further enhance Abu Dhabi’s global position as a major energy player.”
TAQA’s Thabet added: “TAQA brings value to these projects with its strong track record and expertise in utility-scale power plants in clean solar PV and wind technologies, as well as our expertise in the highly efficient gas-fired technology in our existing fleet.
“In addition to this, TAQA has made a promise to its shareholders that it will ambitiously grow its international generation capacity and increase the proportion of renewables in our portfolio. This project demonstrates our rapid progress on our growth strategy as we actively pursue domestic and international expansion opportunities to showcase TAQA as the low carbon power and water champion of Abu Dhabi and beyond.”
Samruk-Kazyna Satkaliyev said: “This is a historic announcement that will see Samruk-Kazyna partnering with two established leaders in the energy sector to advance greenfield power projects in Kazakhstan and unlock opportunities to further our progress on clear energy transition. Apart from developing the greenfield power projects, the joint company will also work on modernisation of the traditional electric power sector by shifting to the gas and green energy sources.”
The agreement follows growing UAE-Kazakhstan bilateral relations between the two countries, with the UAE representing one of Kazakhstan’s key partners in the Middle East. In October 2021, the governments signed a joint declaration covering the establishment of a long-term strategic partnership aimed at developing projects in priority industries.
TAQA has a successful record in low-cost solar power generation with the world’s largest single-site solar PV project, Noor Abu Dhabi, in its existing fleet, and the world’s next largest single-site solar PV project in Al Dhafra, currently under construction. It also has interests in the 206 MW Lakefield wind project in the US.
