Mauritania taps Acwa for gas-fired plant

Mauritania taps Acwa for CCGT plant: Utility giant Acwa signed two 25-year agreements with the Mauritanian government and state utility Somelec to develop the 230 MW Ndiago combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant, according to a disclosure. The project carries an estimated investment cost of around USD 700 mn and covers the design, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of the gas-fired plant under a 25-year government payment model.

What’s in store? The contractual package includes a public-private partnership with the Mauritanian government under which Acwa will hold an effective 60% stake in the project, and a gas-to-power tolling agreement with Somelec that will govern the conversion of natural gas into electricity over the same 25-year period.

Elsewhere on the continent: Acwa is part of a consortium backed by commodity player Vitol to build a USD 3 bn gas-fired power plant and LNG import facility at the Durban port on South Africa’s east coast.