The project company led by France’s Engie has reached financial close for the Fadhili independent power project (IPP) in Saudi Arabia.

MEED reported in July 2016 that the Engie consortium had been awarded the contract to develop the power and steam cogeneration plant. The developer has now reached financial close for the facility, which will have a power capacity of 1,507MW and will produce 1,477 tonnes per hour of steam and 768.8 tonnes per hour of feed water.

The project will have a total investment of $1.2bn, which will be partially financed through $950m of non-recourse project finance debt. The debt will be provided by Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFG, Germany’s KfW, Korea Exim Bank and the local National Commercial Bank and Islamic Development Bank.

Engie will have a 40 per cent ownership stake in the project company formed to develop the project, with state utility SEC holding 30 per cent and state oil major holding 30 per cent.

SEC will be the offtaker for electricity from the plant, with Saudi Aramco the offtaker for steam and water. Both energy companies have signed 20-year power purchase agreements (PPA) with Engie.

South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction will provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the project, with Germany’s Siemens supplying the gas turbines.

The plant is scheduled to begin commercial operation in December 2019.