A consortium of international energy companies has successfully closed a significant green bond refinancing for one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic facilities, demonstrating sustained investor confidence in Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy sector and the broader transition toward sustainable power generation in the Middle East.
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), Masdar, EDF power solutions, and Jinko Power Technology jointly announced the issuance of $870.75 million in long-term green bonds to refinance the Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Plant during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2026. The transaction marks a pivotal moment for sustainable finance in the United Arab Emirates and underscores the growing appetite among global investors for bankable renewable energy infrastructure.
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Bond Structure and Financial Terms
The green bond issuance carries a coupon of 5.794 percent and is scheduled to mature in June 2053, providing nearly three decades of long-term financing for the project. The bonds are expected to receive an A3 rating from Moody’s and an A rating from Standard and Poor’s, reflecting strong creditworthiness and the robust risk profile of the underlying solar asset.
The financing structure attracted participation from leading global financial institutions, with BNP Paribas and HSBC serving as Joint Global Coordinators for the transaction. Crédit Agricole CIB, MUFG, Standard Chartered Bank, and SMBC acted as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners alongside BNP Paribas and HSBC, demonstrating broad institutional support from both European and Asian banking markets.
Proceeds from the green bond issuance will be primarily deployed to refinance the plant’s existing debt obligations, optimizing the project’s capital structure while maintaining its commitment to environmental sustainability. The use of proceeds complies with the ICMA Green Bond Principles 2025 and the Climate Bonds Standard sector technical requirements for solar energy, ensuring alignment with internationally recognized frameworks for green finance.
Certification as 100% Green Asset
A particularly noteworthy aspect of this transaction is the certification of the Al Dhafra Solar PV Power Plant’s bonds as a 100% green asset, a designation that reflects both the facility’s current operational track record and projected future environmental performance. This certification provides investors with assurance that capital deployed through these bonds directly supports renewable energy generation with demonstrable climate benefits.
Farid Al Awlaqi, Chief Executive Officer of TAQA’s Generation business, emphasized the significance of achieving this designation after more than two years of full commercial operations. The certification process evaluated the plant’s actual emissions reductions, operational efficiency, and long-term sustainability metrics, validating the project’s environmental credentials in the marketplace.
The plant is expected to prevent approximately 2.4 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released annually, equivalent to removing approximately 470,000 cars from the roads according to estimates provided by project stakeholders. This substantial emissions reduction contributes directly to Abu Dhabi’s broader energy transition strategy and the United Arab Emirates’ commitment to climate action.
TAQA’s Ambitious Renewable Energy Expansion
The green bond issuance reinforces TAQA’s strategic commitment to dramatically expanding its renewable energy portfolio as part of the global transition away from fossil fuel dependency. The company has set an ambitious target of generating two-thirds of its gross power capacity from renewable sources by 2030, representing a fundamental shift in its generation mix.
TAQA has grown its power generation capacity to approximately 70 gigawatts as of September 2025, positioning itself as one of the largest power producers in the Middle East region. The company is pursuing an even more ambitious target of reaching 150 gigawatts of total generation capacity by 2030, which would more than double its current installed base within the next several years.
This aggressive expansion strategy reflects both the growing electricity demand in the United Arab Emirates and broader regional markets, as well as the increasing economic competitiveness of renewable energy technologies compared to conventional fossil fuel generation. The successful refinancing of Al Dhafra demonstrates that TAQA can access competitive long-term capital markets to fund this growth trajectory.
EWEC’s Track Record in Solar Finance
For Emirates Water and Electricity Company, the Al Dhafra green bond represents the second solar-focused fixed income issuance the entity has brought to capital markets, following the Noor Abu Dhabi green bond issued in early 2022. This developing track record positions EWEC as an important facilitator of renewable energy finance in Abu Dhabi’s power sector.
Ahmed Ali Alshamsi, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, highlighted how bringing fixed income investors into Abu Dhabi’s power sector secures competitive long-term capital while enhancing investor relations across the emirate and the broader UAE. Critically, successful bond issuances allow financial capital to be redeployed toward future solar photovoltaic projects, creating a virtuous cycle of renewable energy investment and development.
EWEC is mandated to implement strategic initiatives that will achieve a 60 percent clean energy target outlined in the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Strategic Target 2035 for Electricity Production. This ambitious goal requires substantial investment in renewable generation capacity and supporting infrastructure over the coming decade.
Beyond clean energy targets, EWEC’s work also supports the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036, the UAE Energy Strategy by 2050, and the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative. The organization is accelerating Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s energy transition by diversifying the country’s energy mix through developing and deploying renewable and clean energy capacity alongside low-carbon intensive water desalination facilities.
Masdar’s Global Green Bond Portfolio
Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, known as Masdar, has established itself as a leading issuer of green bonds in the renewable energy sector. With this latest transaction, Masdar is proud to have raised more than $2.75 billion in green bonds cumulatively, demonstrating consistent ability to tap international capital markets for sustainable finance.
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, emphasized that the successful issuance demonstrates how large-scale, bankable renewable energy projects can attract global capital while delivering affordable, secure, and clean power to end users. This value proposition resonates with institutional investors seeking both financial returns and measurable environmental impact through their investment portfolios.
Masdar raised $1 billion through a green bond issuance in May 2024, issued in two equal tranches with five and ten-year tenors. That offering attracted significant oversubscription with a peak orderbook of $6.6 billion, reflecting strong demand from both regional and international investors including dedicated green funds focused exclusively on environmental investments.
Established in 2006, Masdar has positioned itself at the forefront of the global energy transformation, developing renewable energy projects across multiple continents and technologies including solar, wind, and emerging clean energy solutions. The company’s Green Finance Framework ensures that all proceeds from its bond program are allocated exclusively to the development of new renewable energy projects, providing investors with transparency regarding capital deployment.
International Partnership and Operational Excellence
The Al Dhafra Solar project exemplifies international collaboration in renewable energy development, bringing together partners from the Middle East, Europe, and Asia to deliver world-class clean energy infrastructure. The ownership structure reflects this global partnership, with TAQA holding a 40 percent ownership interest, Masdar controlling 20 percent, and EDF power solutions and Jinko Power each holding 20 percent stakes.
Luc Koechlin, Chief Executive Officer Middle East of EDF Group and EDF power solutions, noted that the plant was inaugurated during COP28, the United Nations climate change conference hosted by the UAE in late 2023. The timing of the inauguration underscored the UAE’s commitment to climate action and renewable energy deployment as it assumed a global leadership role in climate diplomacy.
The facility has demonstrated a strong operational track record since inauguration, delivering innovative clean energy solutions that power approximately 200,000 households across Abu Dhabi. This substantial residential electricity supply demonstrates the material impact that utility-scale solar infrastructure can have on meeting growing power demand through renewable sources rather than fossil fuel generation.
The $870.75 million refinancing marks an important milestone that enables the project’s formal certification as a 100 percent green asset while supporting the continued operation and long-term resilience of the facility. According to Koechlin, the transaction contributes to strengthening the power system against the impacts of climate change while advancing Abu Dhabi’s energy transition ambitions and reinforcing EDF’s role as a leading renewable energy developer delivering low-carbon solutions through sustainable finance channels.
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Chinese Partnership and Global Market Confidence
Charles Bai, President of Jinko Power International Business, characterized the successful green bond refinancing as a remarkable validation of the project’s underlying asset quality, operational resilience, and long-term viability. He emphasized that the transaction represents a strong vote of confidence from global capital markets in both Abu Dhabi as an investment destination and in bankable, utility-scale renewable energy assets more broadly.
Jinko Power remains firmly committed to partnering with leading sponsors, lenders, and institutional investors to deliver high-quality renewable infrastructure that meets the highest international standards. The company believes that trust-based, long-term partnerships are fundamental to scaling sustainable investment, unlocking new opportunities, and accelerating the global energy transition across diverse markets and geographies.
Ali Albeshr, Executive Managing Director of Al Dhafrah PV Energy Company, highlighted that the refinancing marks an important milestone reflecting the project’s stable operating performance, robust risk framework, and long-term cash flow visibility. The successful execution of the green bond further strengthens the project’s financial resilience and supports disciplined, long-term operation in line with international best practices and globally recognized sustainability standards.
Technical Innovation and Environmental Performance
Inaugurated in 2023, the Al Dhafra Solar PV facility stands as one of the world’s largest single-site solar plants, featuring approximately four million solar panels deployed across a vast desert site located roughly 35 kilometers from Abu Dhabi city. The sheer scale of the installation demonstrates the technical and logistical capabilities required to develop utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure in challenging environmental conditions.
The facility employs innovative bi-facial solar panel technology to maximize energy yield from both direct sunlight and reflected light from the desert surface beneath the panels. This dual-sided energy capture significantly enhances overall generation efficiency compared to conventional single-faced panels, extracting additional value from the same physical footprint and installed capacity.
Beyond the solar panels themselves, the plant utilizes state-of-the-art cleaning robots that are powered entirely by the facility’s own electricity generation. These autonomous systems operate without water, delivering substantial water savings compared to traditional solar photovoltaic cleaning solutions that typically rely on water-intensive washing procedures to maintain panel efficiency.
This water-free cleaning approach carries particular significance in the Middle East’s arid environment, where freshwater resources are scarce and subject to competing demands from agricultural, industrial, and municipal uses. By eliminating water consumption for panel maintenance, the Al Dhafra project reduces its environmental footprint while demonstrating technological solutions that enhance the sustainability of solar energy deployment in water-stressed regions.
The 2-gigawatt nameplate capacity of the facility positions it among the largest renewable energy installations globally, capable of generating substantial clean electricity to meet growing regional demand. The project initially achieved what was then the world’s lowest tariff for solar power at financial close, demonstrating the improving economic competitiveness of renewable energy compared to conventional generation sources.
Strategic Context: UAE Energy Transformation
The Al Dhafra green bond issuance must be understood within the broader context of the United Arab Emirates’ accelerating energy transformation. Clean energy capacity in the UAE is expected to exceed 22 gigawatts by 2031 as the country sharpens its focus on renewable energy to meet increasing electricity demand driven in part by rapid expansion of data centers and digital infrastructure.
Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, indicated in December 2025 that with the additional capacity planned to come online by 2031, clean energy would account for approximately 35 percent of the baseload generation mix. This represents a dramatic transformation from the UAE’s historical dependence on natural gas and oil for power generation, reflecting both technological advancement and policy commitment to decarbonization.
The expansion of renewable energy capacity aligns with the UAE’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, an ambitious target that requires fundamental restructuring of the country’s energy system over the coming decades. Solar energy is expected to play a central role in this transformation given the UAE’s exceptional solar resources and the declining costs of photovoltaic technology.
In under fifteen years, the UAE has emerged as a global leader in solar energy deployment. In 2009, Masdar activated the country’s first solar project at just 10 megawatts capacity. The Al Dhafra Solar PV plant, at 2,000 megawatts, represents a facility 200 times larger than that pioneering installation, illustrating the extraordinary pace of solar energy scaling in the emirate.
According to data from The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, the UAE ranks second globally in terms of per capita solar energy consumption, surpassing many established renewable energy leaders through aggressive installation of solar generation capacity as part of the country’s energy diversification strategy.
Green Bond Market Development
The successful pricing and placement of the Al Dhafra green bonds reflects the maturation of sustainable finance markets in the Middle East and the growing sophistication of regional capital markets infrastructure. Green bonds have emerged as an important financing mechanism for renewable energy projects globally, allowing sponsors to access dedicated pools of capital from environmentally-focused investors.
The ICMA Green Bond Principles provide a voluntary framework for issuing green bonds that helps ensure transparency and disclosure while promoting market integrity through standardized approaches to use of proceeds, project evaluation and selection, management of proceeds, and reporting. Compliance with these principles enhances investor confidence and facilitates broader market participation.
Similarly, the Climate Bonds Standard developed by the Climate Bonds Initiative provides science-based sector criteria for determining which projects and assets qualify as green investments. For solar energy projects, these technical requirements ensure that financed facilities deliver genuine emissions reductions and environmental benefits rather than serving as marketing vehicles for conventional projects.
The strong credit ratings expected for the Al Dhafra bonds reflect both the quality of the underlying solar asset and the creditworthiness of the project sponsors and offtaker Emirates Water and Electricity Company. The A and A3 ratings from Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s respectively indicate low credit risk, enabling the bonds to attract a diverse investor base including insurance companies, pension funds, and other institutional investors with stringent credit requirements.
Implications for Future Renewable Finance
The successful refinancing of Al Dhafra carries important implications for future renewable energy project finance in Abu Dhabi and across the broader Middle East region. By demonstrating that operating solar assets can access attractively priced long-term capital through bond markets, the transaction establishes a precedent that could facilitate similar financings for other projects in the regional pipeline.
The 27-year tenor to maturity aligns well with the expected economic life of solar infrastructure, allowing project sponsors to match long-term asset cash flows with corresponding debt service obligations. This duration also provides stability for investors seeking predictable income streams over extended time horizons, meeting the needs of liability-driven investors such as pension funds and insurance companies.
The involvement of multiple leading global banks as coordinators, managers, and bookrunners brings valuable expertise and distribution capabilities to the transaction, ensuring broad investor outreach across geographic markets and institutional segments. This international banking participation also enhances market credibility and can help establish pricing benchmarks for future issuances.
Looking forward, both TAQA and EWEC have indicated intentions to pursue additional renewable energy projects and associated financing transactions. The capital redeployed from successful bond issuances like Al Dhafra can be recycled into new development opportunities, creating a sustainable pipeline of investment in clean energy infrastructure.
Global Climate Action and COP28 Legacy
The Al Dhafra project’s inauguration during COP28 in late 2023 positioned it as a tangible demonstration of the UAE’s climate commitments during a critical international climate conference. The timing underscored the country’s efforts to align domestic energy policy with its role as a climate diplomacy leader and host of major international environmental forums.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Chairman of Masdar, and COP28 President, emphasized that Al Dhafra represents part of a long and proud history of energy innovation in the Emirates. The project demonstrates remarkable progress in solar power efficiency, innovation, and cost competitiveness while setting new records for affordable renewable energy tariffs.
The formation of the strategic partnership bringing together TAQA from Abu Dhabi, EDF from France, and JinkoPower from China to develop Al Dhafra exemplifies the international collaboration that will be essential for accelerating the global energy transition. As Dr. Al Jaber noted, with days remaining before the start of COP28, the conference would call on the world to unite and deliver the energy transition by tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.
The Al Dhafra facility serves as an example of the scale and ambition needed to meet these global targets. With nearly four million solar panels generating clean electricity for 200,000 homes while eliminating over 2.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually, the project demonstrates that utility-scale renewable infrastructure can deliver meaningful climate benefits at commercial scale.
Sustainable Finance Ecosystem Development
Beyond its immediate impacts on renewable energy generation and emissions reduction, the Al Dhafra green bond transaction contributes to the broader development of sustainable finance ecosystems in the Middle East. By successfully accessing international capital markets with a competitively priced green bond, the project sponsors demonstrate the viability of environmental finance mechanisms for regional infrastructure development.
The participation of dedicated green funds and environmentally-focused institutional investors in the transaction helps establish relationships and track records that can facilitate future sustainable finance activities. As these investors gain comfort with regional projects, sponsors, and market infrastructure, they may allocate increasing capital to subsequent opportunities in the renewable energy and broader sustainability sectors.
The transparency and disclosure associated with green bond frameworks also contribute to improved market standards and best practices. When issuers commit to regular reporting on use of proceeds and environmental impacts, they create accountability mechanisms that build trust with investors and other stakeholders while advancing overall market integrity.
The involvement of major international banks in structuring and distributing the transaction brings sophisticated financial engineering capabilities and global distribution networks to support sustainable finance development in the region. These institutions can serve as knowledge brokers, transferring best practices from more mature green bond markets in Europe and North America to emerging markets in the Middle East.
Conclusion: Milestone for Sustainable Infrastructure
The $870.75 million green bond refinancing of the Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Plant represents a significant milestone in the development of sustainable energy infrastructure in Abu Dhabi and the broader United Arab Emirates. The transaction demonstrates that world-class renewable energy projects can attract substantial long-term capital from international investors while delivering measurable environmental benefits through emissions reductions and clean power generation.
The successful certification of the bonds as 100 percent green assets validates the environmental credentials of the underlying solar facility and provides a model for future sustainable finance transactions in the regional market. The strong credit ratings and competitive pricing achieved reflect both the quality of the project sponsors and the increasingly attractive risk-return profile of utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure.
For TAQA, EWEC, Masdar, EDF power solutions, and Jinko Power, the refinancing optimizes the capital structure of a flagship renewable energy asset while freeing up capital for redeployment into new clean energy projects. The transaction advances each organization’s strategic objectives related to renewable energy expansion and supports the UAE’s broader energy transformation goals.
As global energy markets continue their transition toward sustainable power generation, the Al Dhafra green bond stands as evidence that large-scale renewable infrastructure projects can successfully bridge the gap between ambitious climate commitments and practical implementation through innovative financing structures that align environmental objectives with investor returns. The project’s operational track record powering 200,000 homes and eliminating millions of tonnes of annual emissions demonstrates the tangible real-world impacts that sustainable finance can enable when executed effectively.
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By: Montel Kamau
Serrari Financial Analyst
20th January, 2026
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