Saudi-listed Acwa Power, the world’s largest private water desalination firm, has marked a monumental year, achieving financial close for projects worth over $14 billion, the largest in the company’s history.
The past 12 months have seen Acwa Power, a leader in energy transition and first mover into green hydrogen, achieve financial close across 10 key projects in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uzbekistan.
The projects sit across the breadth of Acwa Power’s project portfolio spanning renewables, water desalination and green hydrogen and include the $8.5 billion NEOM Green Hydrogen project, the world’s largest utility scale green hydrogen production facility under construction in Saudi Arabia.
Remarking on the figures during the Saudi Arabia Investment Forum in New York, Abdulhameed Al Muhaidib, CFO of Acwa Power, said: “The past 12 months marks a historic milestone for us, as it represents the highest number of projects we have ever successfully achieved financial closure within 12 months. It demonstrates our agility, resilience, and unwavering commitment to creating a sustainable future for generations to come. It not only validates our expertise as a developer and operator of strategically vital projects but also speaks highly about the trust our investors and partners place in us.”
In addition to the NEOM Green Hydrogen project, Acwa Power also achieved financial closes of the Ar Rass solar PV and the Al Shuaibah 1 and Al Shuaibah 2 solar PV projects, which form a critical part of Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP); three wind projects in Uzbekistan – Bash, Dzhankeldy and Nukus; the Kom Ombo solar project in Egypt; the Shuaibah 3 IWP, and most recently the Rabigh 4 IWP in Yanbu.
"The financial execution base shows the accelerated rate of development underway across countries when it comes to energy transition,” added Al Muhaidib. “We expect this to ramp up even further in the coming years as governments realize the additional economic benefits of changing their energy mix beyond the climate and environmental ones.”
Financing for these projects has been sourced from several local and international financial institutions and infrastructure development funds, highlighting Acwa Power’s market credibility and innovative approach to financing, but also speaking to the growing appetite of institutions in supporting energy transition projects.
Over the coming months, Acwa Power will continue to pursue new opportunities and partnerships that align with this mission, to scale up its project footprint both within Saudi Arabia and globally.
At present, Acwa Power has 75 assets in various stages of development and in operation, in geographies including the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.
