CHINA'S SILK ROAD FUND OWN 49% OF SAUDI'S ACWA POWER RENEWCO
The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth vehicle Public Investment Fund-backed Acwa Power has signed an agreement with China’s Silk Road Fund that makes the latter a partner and 49% shareholder in Acwa Power Renewable Energy Holding (Acwa Power Renewco), a subsidiary that owns “a number of” the company’s renewable energy projects.
Acwa Power Renewco’s portfolio will include the mother company’s concentrated solar power (CSP), photovoltaic (PV), and wind assets in the UAE, South Africa, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco, with an aggregate capacity of 1,668 MW.
Silk Road Fund and Acwa Power are already co-investors in two UAE projects, including the 2,400 MW Hassyan Clean Coal Power Plant, and the 950 MW hybrid CSP-PV Phase 4 of MBR Solar Park.
The Chinese entity is a medium- to long-term development and investment fund that was established under the framework of the Asian country’s multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, driven by President Xi Jinping.
Commenting on the transaction, which is subject to customary consents, Acwa power’s president and chief executive officer, Paddy Padmanathan, said the collaboration was “a mirror image of the robust and strategic ties between Saudi Arabia and China”.
He added: “It is our pleasure to welcome Silk Road Fund as a shareholder in Renewco to jointly bring in the finest expertise and promising investment to our portfolio of projects; and together, help progress the world to a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable home.
”Acwa Power’s chief investment officer, Rajit Nanda, said Acwa Power’s presence in “a Belt and Road country” meant adding Silk Road Fund as a shareholder would “support both the economic transformation envisioned by the Belt and Road initiative as well as Saudi Arabia’s forward looking Vision 2030”.
