ACWA Power is a developer, investor, co-owner and operator of a portfolio of power generation and desalinated water production plants currently with presence in 10 countries including in the Middle East and North Africa, Southern Africa and South East Asia regions. ACWA Power’s portfolio, with an investment value in excess of USD 33 billion, can generate more than 22 GW of power and produce 2.5 million m3/day of desalinated water to be delivered on a bulk basis to state utilities and industrial majors on long term off-take contracts under Public-Private-Partnership, Concession and Utility Services Outsourcing models (BOO/BOOT).
Its energy portfolio includes efficient
combined cycle power plants, solar (
Photovoltaic
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...
PV) and
Concentrated Solar Power
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...
(CSP),
geothermal,
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
,
waste-to-energy
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Mo ...
(WtE) and
coal pollution mitigation
Coal pollution mitigation, sometimes called clean coal, is a series of systems and technologies that seek to mitigate the health and environmental impact of coal; in particular air pollution from coal-fired power stations, and from coal burnt b ...
.
Background
Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, ACWA Power maintains regional offices in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
,
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
,
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...
,
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
It invests in, develops, co-owns and operates a portfolio of 32 plants on three continents, with the capacity to generate 22.8GW of power and produce 2.5 million m3/day of desalinated water.
ACWA Power and its subsidiary operating companies employ over 3,000 people in projects in 11 different countries.
As of 2014, 8% of ACWA Power's energy portfolio was in renewable energy. ACWA Power has expressed an intention to increase its investment in renewables: of the new bids and projects still in the financing stage announced in 2014 US$7.4 billion of US$15 billion were in renewable energy.
Structure
ACWA Power's board of directors is chaired by Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan and Paddy Padmanathan serves as its CEO and President.
History
In 2002, the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia changed the regulations so that the private sector was permitted to own and operate utilities such as water and power plants.
The company was founded in its current form in 2008 and succeeded ACWA Power Projects, a joint venture between ACWA Holding (representing the
Abunayyan Holding Company and
Al-Muhaidib) and the MADA Group for Industrial and Commercial Development founded in 2004 to take advantage of these new private sector investment and operation opportunities in the Saudi Arabian market.
From 2004 to 2011, ACWA Power focused primarily on Saudi Arabia, and was awarded contracts for the
Shuqaiq and Marafiq Integrated water and power plants. The company began its current phase of international expansion in 2011 with the acquisition of Central Electricity Generating Company (CEGCO) Jordan and the signature of a joint development agreement for the Kirikkale Combined Cycle Gas Turbine project in Turkey, which subsequently won backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The company has since expanded throughout the world, although its core holdings remain the MENA region.
In 2020 ACWA Power announced plans to invest around $10 Billion in over 10 countries. The company already operates in 12 countries, the announcement marks their intent to enter in five new countries including Ethiopia, Tunisia, Cambodia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The announcement came at the backdrop of winning renewable energy projects in Azerbaijan and Ethiopia.
In order to support the renewable energy in Saudi Arabia, The Public Investment Fund announced in November 2020 that it has increased its stake in ACWA Power to 50% from 33.6%.
Bokpoort Independent Power Project, South Africa
* The
Bokpoort CSP
Bokpoort CSP is a concentrated solar power (CSP) thermal energy power plant, located near Groblershoop in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The project was procured pursuant to the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procuremen ...
project, a 50 MW
concentrated solar power
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...
plant with 9.3 hours thermal storage, was inaugurated in March 2016, after operations started in December 2015.
* In April 2016 the Bokpoort CSP plant set a new African record for the continuous, round the clock supply of electricity by generating power for a continuous period of 161 hours.
Noor I, II, III, IV Ouarzazate, Morocco
The
Noor solar complex with 580 MW solar CSP and PV near Ouarzazate is the largest in the world in 2019. ACWA was involved in all 4 plants.
*In 2012, a consortium led by ACWA Power won a €634m euro contract to build a 160 MW Concentrated Solar Power plant near
Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate (; ar, ورزازات, Warzāzāt, ; ary, وارزازات, Wārzāzāt; shi, label= Berber, ⵡⴰⵔⵣⴰⵣⴰⵜ, Warzazat), nicknamed ''the door of the desert'', is a city and capital of Ouarzazate Province in the region of Dr ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
– called Noor I. The cost of the project when it began operations was $3.9 billion. The electricity was to be sold at $0.19 /kWh.
![Noor solar complex Quarzazate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Noor_solar_complex_Quarzazate.jpg)
* In 2015, ACWA Power were awarded a €1.7 billion contract for two further solar power projects, Noor II and Noor III, in Morocco.
* Noor I was inaugurated in February 2016 and will generate 160 MW of electricity. The second two phases currently under construction will generate a further 580 MW.
* Noor IV construction was launched in April 2017 to add an additional capacity of 72MWp (photovoltaics)
Nam Dinh, Vietnam
* In June 2014 a consortium including ACWA Power and Korea's Taekwang Power Holdings Company Limited signed an agreement to develop the Nam Dinh 1 IPP Project in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
* In January 2016, the consortium signed a $2.2 billion investment agreement with Vietnam for the Nam Dinh 1 thermal power plant. The $2 billion coal fired power plant will generate 1,200MW upon completion.
According to the Revised Power Development Plan VII (2016), the current status of the project is as follows:
* Phase I, Unit 1 - 600 MW - Planned with Investor identified (i.e. pre-permit development) - Year 2020
* Phase I, Unit 2 - 600 MW - Planned with Investor identified (i.e. pre-permit development) - Year 2021
* Phase II, Unit 1 - 600 MW - Cancelled
* Phase II, Unit 2 - 600 MW - Cancelled
Hassyan, UAE
* In September 2014 ACWA Power was shortlisted to build the Hassyan 2,400MW coal power plant with pollution mitigation as part of a $20 billion investment by the UAE Government that aims to help to diversify Dubai's energy mix by 2030.
* In October 2015, a consortium including ACWA Power and China's
Harbin Electric
Harbin Electric Company Limited, formerly Harbin Power Equipment Company Limited, is a Chinese enterprise engaged in the research and development, manufacturing and construction of power plant equipment. Along with Shanghai Electric and Dongfang ...
were selected to build and operate the $1.8 billion plant.
* Construction of the power plant commenced in November 2016. The four units of 600MW each are expected to start operations in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park, Dubai
* In January 2015 a consortium of ACWA Power and Spain's TSK were selected by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) as the preferred bidder to build the $327 million phase 2 project of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park in the emirate.
* In March 2015, ACWA Power secured a $344 million loan to finance the project.
* The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) signed a Power Purchase Agreement and a Shareholder Agreement with ACWA Power in March 2015 for the 200MW expansion.
* ACWA Power's tender for construction of the project, at a tariff of 5.98 USD cents/kWh, was the cheapest ever offered in the world.
This tariff was later surpassed in 2017 by the 500 MW Bhadla solar park auction in India at 3.80 USD cents/kWh.
Redstone Solar Thermal Power Project, South Africa
* In January 2015 a consortium led by ACWA Power and the USA firm
SolarReserve
SolarReserve was a developer of utility-scale solar power projects which include Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaic (PV) technology. The company has commercialized solar thermal energy storage technology that enables solar power tow ...
was awarded the right to develop the $1.2 billion
Redstone Solar Thermal Power
Redstone Solar Thermal Power (RSTP) is a solar power tower with molten salt energy storage, located in Postmasburg, near Kimberley, in the Northern Cape Region of South Africa. Redstone will have a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) to deliv ...
Project in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a 100 MW concentrating solar power generation project utilizing central tower technology with 12 hours of full-load energy storage, able to deliver a stable electricity supply to more than 200,000 South African homes. Basic power tariff offered is $124/MW·h and peak power tariff is 270% of the basic power tariff i.e. $334/MW·h.
* In October 2015 financing was secured for the Redstone project when the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) signed an agreement to making a US$400mn commitment of debt financing.
As of 2022 the plant is under construction and scheduled for completion in Q4 2023.
Awards
ACWA Power won the following awards in 2014:
* The
Acquisition International Fund awards: Energy Investment Firm of the Year – Saudi Arabia, a
vanity award
A vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor. Pitches for ''Who's Who''-type publications (see vanity press), biographies or nominations for award ...
*
MEED
MEED, formerly ''Middle East Economic Digest'', is a media publishing company founded in 1957 focused on economic and business news related to the Middle East. MEED also provides advertising and marketing services.
History
The first issue o ...
quality awards: Angus Hindley Award for Project Excellence
References
{{Portal, Saudi Arabia, Energy, Companies
Electric power companies of Saudi Arabia
Companies based in Riyadh
Renewable energy companies of Asia
Non-renewable resource companies established in 2004
Saudi Arabian companies established in 2004