The move comes after Taqa was notified by the regulator that its stake in the Taweelah A2 plant exceeded local rules on IWPPs, which stipulate 40 per cent of such projects should be owned by foreign investors. Following recent acquisitions, Taqa had a 94 per cent stake in the Taweelah plant as well as 74 per cent of the Shuweihat

S1 plant.

Along with its majority owner, Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea), Taqa already has 60 per cent stakes in the

federation's six independent water and power plants.

In February, Taqa acquired the US' CMS Generation for $900 million, which gave it almost complete ownership of the Taweelah plant. Soon after, there was speculation that regulatory rules would force Taqa to sell some of its interests in the Taweelah and Shuweihat plants in the emirate.

The Taweelah deal is the third in a year in the Gulf region for Marubeni. The firm was awarded the Mesaieed independent power project in October 2006 and the Fujairah 2 IWPP in August 2007.

With the Taweelah A2 deal, Marubeni has added 280 MW of equity power capacity, giving it a total of 1,540 MW.

The firm already has a 14 per cent stake in the Taweelah B plant (MEED 17:8:07).

www.meed.com/powerwater