Arab News, Wed, Jun 05, 2024 | Dhu al-Qadah 28, 1445
Saudi energy giant ACWA Power sells $225m stake in Rabigh IWSPP
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi-listed ACWA Power has agreed to sell 30 percent of its stake in Rabigh
Independent Water Steam and Power Project to Hassana Investment Co. for SR844
million ($225 million).
Parties in the deal included Oasis Power One
Conventional Energy and Water Co. and Gosi Investment Ventures Limited, said
ACWA Power in a bourse filing.
Rabigh IWSPP is owned and operated by Rabigh
Arabian Water and Electricity Co., a joint venture between ACWA Power, Marubeni
Corp., JGC Corp., and Petro Rabigh.
The project was arranged under an engineering,
procurement, and construction contract by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and
consists of conventional thermal power with five 118 megawatt steam turbines,
nine 470 tonnes per hour steam generators, three wet limestone flue gas
desulphurization units, and 16 reverse osmosis trains capable of producing
504 cubic meters per hour.
RAWEC is an independent water, steam, and power
producer, supplying essential utilities on a captive basis to Petro Rabigh Co.
ACWA Power stated that the sale is part of its
capital recycling strategy.
The Saudi utility giant previously held a 99
percent shareholding in the project. The company expects to gain from this
divestment, which will be calculated on the closing date of the transaction.
The statement added that RAWEC’s contribution to
the group’s net income will be proportionately reduced in line with the
divestment.
On June 2, ACWA Power signed an agreement with the
Tunisian government for a project that will produce up to 600,000 tonnes per
year of green hydrogen in three phases for export to Europe.
The memorandum of understanding was inked by Fatma
Thabet Chiboub, Tunisia’s minister of industry, mines and energy, and Marco
Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power.
ACWA Power is set to develop, operate, and
maintain 12 gigawatts of renewable energy electricity generation units,
including storage systems and transmission lines, along with water desalination
plants, electrolyzers, and infrastructures to connect to the main pipeline.
The first phase will involve installing 4 GW of
renewable energy units, 2 GW of electrolyzer capacity, as well as battery
storage facilities to produce 200,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen, which
will be exported through the SoutH2 Corridor, a hydrogen pipeline initiative led
by European transmission system operators connecting Tunisia to Italy, Austria
and Germany.