Qatar completes financing for new desalination plant

09 January 2013

Local banks fund $500m Ras Abu Fontas A2 water project

Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) has completed the financing for the $500m Ras Abu Fontas A2 desalination facility, according to sources closely involved in the deal.

The project, which is being developed for Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa), will be funded by Qatar National Bank (QNB), which is also acting as coordinating bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Barwa Bank and Masraf al-Rayan.

QNB is providing about half of the $450m debt for the project, which has a 22-year tenor, and pricing is understood to be 200 basis points above the London interbank offered rate (Libor).

QEWC will use the funds to build a 72 million gallons-a-day (g/d) multi-stage flash desalination plant next to the Ras Abu Fontas A1 plant. The UK’s HSBC is the financial adviser on the scheme. Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and Toyo Thai Engineering Company have been appointed to build the facility.

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