Shuweihat 2, UAE

What is it? A 454,600m3/d, 1500 MW independent water and power project (IWPP) in Abu Dhabi employing multi-stage flash (MSF) technology.

Who is responsible? GdF Suez Energy International is the developer, and holds a 40% stake in the project, with the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority holding the rest. The EPC team consists of Doosan Heavy, Siemens and Samsung Engineering. Calyon, Natixis and BayernLB arranged the financing, along with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, KfW and Standard Chartered.

Why is it shortlisted?

• A $900 million nine-month bridging loan was closed at the end of 2008 to finance the initial stages of the project. The fact that the deal's bankers were able to respond effectively to tough market conditions ensured that the timetable could move forward smoothly.

• With demand for water growing by 5% a year in Abu Dhabi, any delay in getting additional desalination capacity online could prove disastrous. The close cooperation of both sponsors and lenders in the face of huge market uncertainty ultimately served to rescue the $2.5 billion project from potential collapse.

• Subsequent moves to bring Marubeni into the developer consortium in the hope of securing JBIC's participation in the refinancing of the bridge loan showed creative thinking on the part of the client.