Acwa Power plans to double its clean energy portfolio over the next five years

Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power aims to double its renewable energy portfolio in the coming years as the company prepares to go public and raise more funds to fuel its growth amid increased demand for clean energy .

“Over the next five years, we will double our current portfolio and a large part of it will be renewable energy,” Acwa Power chief executive Paddy Padmanathan told Bloomberg TV on Monday. The company will increase its renewable energy capacity to 40 gigawatts during the period, from 20 gigawatts currently, he added.

Acwa Power is proceeding with its IPO and will list 11.1% of its shares on the Tadawul Stock Exchange in Saudi Arabia, it announced last week. The Riyadh-based company will use the net proceeds of the offering to further strengthen its balance sheet and finance future projects in the energy and water desalination sectors.

Mr Padmanathan said meetings with potential investors ahead of the IPO went “very well”.

“The investors with whom we engaged in the pre-IPO presentations have received us very well,” he said. “With our own established capacity, capacity and track record to drive the energy transition and reduce the cost of desalinated water”, we are “in the right place at the right time”.

Acwa Power operates in 13 countries in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. It has a portfolio of 64 assets with a total investment of $ 66 billion, producing 42 gigawatts of electricity and 6.4 million cubic meters per day of desalinated water.

The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, is the company’s main shareholder, with a 50% stake. Acwa Power has eight other stakeholders, including the Saudi Public Pension Agency.

The company will also look at acquisition opportunities as it “enters new markets,” Padmanathan said, without disclosing details.

Earlier this year, Acwa Power signed an agreement with the government of Uzbekistan to develop two wind power plants in the Bukhara and Navoi regions with a total capacity of 2.5 gigawatts. It is also developing a 240 megawatt wind power plant in Azerbaijan.

Acwa Power’s listing will be one of the largest in the region’s energy sector after Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s oil company.

The company also raised 2.8 billion Saudi riyals ($ 746 million) through the issuance of a seven-year sukuk, or Islamic bond, in June, as the company continues to diversify its funding sources to support its growth.

Updated: September 6, 2021, 13:36