Japanese companies Tokyo Electric Power Company and Mitsui have announced that the Arabian Power Company has begun commercial operation of a new natural gas-fired, advanced combined-cycle technology plant and a desalination plant at the Umm Al Nar power and water project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

Arabian Power Company (APC) is the project company, and is comprised of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Mitsui, International Power (IPR) and the Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority (ADWEA).

APC acquired the existing Umm Al Nar project, which consists of several thermal power plants with a generation capacity of 850MW and desalination facilities with a daily output of 750,000 tons of water, in 2002.

Since the acquisition, APC has been constructing several new expansion plants with a thermal generation capacity of 1,550MW and a desalination capacity of 110,000 tons of water per day. The new plant was constructed using advanced combined-cycle technology.

Natural gas for the plant is supplied by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), while all electricity and desalinated water will be purchased by the Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Company (ADWEC), which is wholly owned by ADWEA.