January 26, 2024
ACWA Power, a Saudi energy firm, has acquired an equivalent of US$2.3 billion in loan finance for the development of three large-scale solar projects totaling 4.5 GW in Saudi Arabia.
The company has obtained project funding for the 2 GW Ar Raas-2, 1.1 GW Saad-2, and 1.4 GW Al-Kahfah solar PV Independent Power Plants (IPPs). The total investment cost for these three projects is SAR12.8 billion (US$3.4 billion).
While ACWA Power had anticipated to attain financial close on the projects in the third quarter of last year, the company only received the final installment of loan funding from a consortium of banks last week
This consortium of local and foreign banks—Banque Saudi Fransi, Mizuho Bank, Riyad Bank, Saudi National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Saudi Awwal Bank, and HSBC—supplied the debt financing for a 27.75-year term.
ACWA Power has an effective 50.1% ownership share in each of the three projects, with Badeel, a fully owned business by the Public Investment Fund, owning the remaining 49.9%.
While the government intends to achieve 50% of the country’s energy needs with renewable energy by 2030, renewables accounted for just 1.3% of the Saudi energy mix in 2023. Developers intend to add 58.7GW of new renewable capacity by the end of this decade if the government is to meet its clean power generation target.
With the development of these projects, the PIF has now supported five solar projects through the government’s National Renewable Energy Programme.
Source: Energy Ghana