Kahramaa project honoured at PFI Awards ceremony

The Facility D project of Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa), popularly known as Umm Al Houl Integrated Water and Power Project (IWPP), was recently named ‘PPP Deal of the Year 2016’ in the Middle East and Africa by Projects Finance International (PFI).Kahramaa, as the procuring authority on Facility D (Umm Al Houl), has been honoured for “demonstrating the highest standards” of project execution and procurement, according to a press statement from the corporation.“The international accolade reflects Kahramaa’s commitment to maintain its highest operational and functional standards at all levels, including its role as a leading project sponsor. Kahramaa aspires to be a role model while executing complex projects for the benefit of all parties involved,” the statement noted.Facility D has set a number of precedents for Qatar. It is the first public-private partnership (PPP) project to embrace the ‘Strategic National Investor’ model developed by Kahramaa. It also establishes the commercial viability for reverse osmosis (RO) technology for Qatar as evidenced by the high level of interest from all major global RO developers at the bidding stage of the procurement. Umm Al Houl is the “largest IWPP” incorporating both RO and thermal desalination technology with an IPP in Qatar and one of the largest in the region. From a financing perspective, the project validates the attractiveness of long-term project financing as a source of private funding for large national infrastructure projects. Kahramaa’s project was felicitated in the Middle East and Africa category at the PFI Awards ceremony that took place recently in London. PFI is a leading source of global project and infrastructure finance news, data and tools associated with Thomson Reuters.