UAE’s Barakah Nuclear plant completes loan refinancing: The Barakah One Company — a JV between Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) — has refinanced Abu Dhabi’s 5.6 GW Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant with help from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank, Wam reports.

The details: Barakah One has refinanced the full outstanding balance of loans the JV had secured from South Korea’s Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), the news agency notes. In 2016, Kexim extended USD 2.5 bn in credit lines to Barakah One in a bid to help finance the USD 30 bn project, according to Business Korea. Separately, Kexim had also provided c. USD 600 mn to Kepco that year, but Wam does not specify if the debt has also been refinanced.

REMEMBER- Enec is gearing up to bring the final phase of the project online: The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) said it began operational readiness procedures for the fourth and final unit of Abu Dhabi’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant last month. The fourth phase is set to up the plant’s full production volume to 5.6 GW of clean energy once fully operational — meeting some 25% of the UAE’s total energy needs. The third unit added 1.4 GW to the UAE grid back in February.

Tags: