Taqa to divest investment in MTC

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) intends to divest its investment in the Marubeni Taqa Caribbean Ltd (MTC) joint venture, according to a statement made in connection with the release of its third quarter financials.

Taqa, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea), has already reclassified the MTC investment and related loan outstanding as a held-for-sale investment on the asset side, which clearly explains the company’s intention to part with that asset. However, the company has not elaborated on why it decided so. An email sent t the company seeking details on the new move is yet to be responded by the officials of Taqa.

As of September 30, 2010, the company has calculated the carrying value of the investment in Marubeni Taqa Caribbean (MTC) and the associated loan amounting to Dh1.658 billion. Taqa acquired the 50 per cent stake in Marubeni’s Caribbean Power Portfolio of Marubeni Corporation, Japan’s largest trading company, during the first quarter of last year.

However, the company moves ahead with its asset acquisition programmes. Carl Sheldon, General Manager of Taqa stated that the company continued to add to its footprint in the UK North Sea, with the acquisition of the Otter field from TOTAL and the award of licences from the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change in the latest licensing round. “This licence acreage, strategically located adjacent to existing infrastructure, positions us well for future growth, as does our drilling programme in North America,” Sheldon has stated.

During the third quarter, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) transferred 90 per cent of its interest in the Fujairah 2 plant to Taqa, giving the latter a 54 per cent interest in the facility. The company statement said that due to a delay in the completion of the Fujairah 2 plant, Taqa received net liquidated damages of Dh311 million, recorded under revenues. Fujairah 2 is expected to be complete by the end of the current year.

In early November, Taqa announced that it has mandated The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Standard Chartered Bank to arrange a $3billion revolving credit facility. “The facility will be used for general corporate purposes and will replace the existing $3.15 billion revolving credit facility signed in August 2008,” a company official statement said.

The company has stated that total revenues from power and water increased by 18 per cent to Dh1.9 billion during the quarter ending September 30, 2010. “Technical availability at Taqa’s domestic power utilities exceeded 98 per cent, with its international portfolio recording 93 per cent. With an average technical availability of 97 per cent across the portfolio, this underlines the high quality nature of the assets and their efficient operation,” it further said.

The company’s general manager said, over the course of the last three months (quarter ending September 30), in response to the more positive commodity pricing environment and as a result of Taqa’s asset optimisation work and acquisitions, the company has increased production in its upstream assets.

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