Sign in
ENERGY-
Barakah Nuclear Energy plant starts up 4th reactor unit: Nawah Energy Company, the operating and maintenance subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, has started up the 5.6 GW Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant’s fourth unit, a statement said on Friday. The Abu Dhabi plant has started producing heat through nuclear fission to generate electricity, and Unit 4 is expected to be linked to the national grid soon for testing.
REFRESHER- The plant recently got its fourth and final license: The UAE granted the Nawah Energy Company a 60-year operating license for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant’s fourth unit in November. The final unit will increase the plant’s production capacity to 5.6 GW, meeting 25% of the UAE’s energy needs.
Businesses can now slap their brand name on Emarat fuel stations: Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat) service stations will offer companies exclusive naming rights for fuel stations in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, according to a press release.
!_ SubHed_! DEBT-
The Sharjah government closed its USD 750 mn 12-year USD-denominated senior unsecured sustainable bond issuance, with orders surpassing USD 4 bn, according to a press release. The Bank of Sharjah acted as joint lead manager and bookrunner for the issuance, which was priced at basis points above US Treasuries, tightened from an initial spread of 235 bps. Some 67% of total demand came from investors outside of the region, according to the statement.
Other participating banks: Emirates NBD Capital and HSBC acted as joint global coordinators, lead managers, and bookrunners, while Citi, Credit Agricole CIB, and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners. HSBC served as the sole ESG structuring agent.
TECH-
Abu Dhabi’s TII commits over AED 1 bn to new Falcon Foundation: Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has launched the Falcon Foundation, a nonprofit entity dedicated to advancing open-source Generative AI models for specific industries, with an AED 1 bn funding commitment, the Abu Dhabi Media Office reports. The foundation will support open-source responsible AI entities, ensuring independence from external vendors.
M&A-
Food and beverage giant Agthia has acquired an additional 10% in Egyptian food company Abu Auf Group for EGP 691 mn (c. USD 22 mn), bringing its total share in the Egyptian snack and coffee company to 70%, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf) from Agthia. The company acquired a 60% stake in Abu Auf in 2022.
DESALINATION-
UAE launches USD 119 mn desal tech competition: The UAE has launched a five-year global competition with a USD 119 mn prize aimed at encouraging the testing and deployment at scale of sustainable, reliable, and affordable desalination technologies, Wam reported on Thursday. The competition was launched in partnership with the American XPrize Foundation, which together with the UAE invested a total of USD 150 mn into the initiative — dubbed the XPrize Water Scarcity competition — which will be chaired by the UAE’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed.
