ACWA Power: Saudi Arabia’s Cornerstone In Renewable Energy Sector

 FILE PHOTO: Saudi ACWA Power-generating windmills are pictured in Jbel Sendouq, on the outskirts of Tangier, Morocco, June 29, 2018. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Saudi ACWA Power-generating windmills are pictured in Jbel Sendouq, on the outskirts of Tangier, Morocco, June 29, 2018. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo
TT

ACWA Power: Saudi Arabia’s Cornerstone In Renewable Energy Sector

 FILE PHOTO: Saudi ACWA Power-generating windmills are pictured in Jbel Sendouq, on the outskirts of Tangier, Morocco, June 29, 2018. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Saudi ACWA Power-generating windmills are pictured in Jbel Sendouq, on the outskirts of Tangier, Morocco, June 29, 2018. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo

The Saudi ACWA Power has contributed to shaping the renewable energy sector around the world. The company has been a pioneer in supporting the sector through new standards in terms of cost, construction and the creation of innovative dimensions within the industry.

“ACWA Power in itself represents a true Saudi success story. It is also a cornerstone and a living model for the thriving private sector in the Kingdom,” Saudi Minister of Investment Khaled Al-Falih said on Sunday.

In 2002, Saudi Arabia amended its investment laws and allowed the private sector to own and operate service facilities such as water and power plants.

ACWA Power was established in 2004, taking advantage of the new investment laws to create new job opportunities in the Saudi market.

From 2004 to 2011, ACWA Power concentrated all its activities in Saudi Arabia, and won several contracts for water and electricity.

The company launched its current goal for international expansion in 2011 with the acquisition of the Central Electricity Generating Company in Jordan (CEGCO), and the signing of joint development agreements to launch projects for the production of electricity using combined cycle gas technology in a number of countries in the region.

Since then, the company has succeeded to expand in different countries of the world while maintaining its main activity within the Middle East region.

ACWA Power is present in 13 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia and employs around 3,500 persons.

Its portfolio of 62 assets has an investment value of USD 62.6 billion, with a production capacity of 38.9 gigawatts of electric power and 5.8 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day.

The company seeks to provide electricity and desalinated water in a reliable and responsible manner to support social development and economic growth of nations, through long-term purchase contracts that operate on a partnership model between the government and the private sectors.



Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Japan are close to unveiling a higher partnership council that will be headed by the countries’ leaderships in line with efforts to build a partnership that bolsters the technical transformation and joint research in clean energy, communications and other areas, revealed Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two countries will soon open a new chapter in their sophisticated strategic partnership.

The new council will be chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to push forward the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030, he added.

The council will elevate cooperation between the countries and pave the way for broader dialogue and consultations in various fields to bolster political, defense, economic, cultural and sports cooperation, he explained.

The two parties will work on critical technological partnerships that will focus on assessing and developing technologies to benefit from them, Binzagr said. They will also focus on the economy these technologies can create and in turn, the new jobs they will generate.

These jobs can be inside Saudi Arabia or abroad and provide employers with the opportunity to develop the sectors they are specialized in, he added.

Binzagr said Saudi Arabia and Japan will mark 70s years of relations in 2025, coinciding with the launch of Expo 2025 in Osaka in which the Kingdom will have a major presence.

Relations have been based on energy security and trade exchange with Japan’s need for oil. Now, according to Saudi Vision 2030, they can be based on renewable energy and the post-oil phase, remarked the ambassador.

Several opportunities are available in both countries in the cultural, sports and technical fields, he noted.

Both sides agree that improving clean energy and a sustainable environment cannot take place at the expense of a strong economy or quality of life, but through partnership between their countries to influence the global economy, he explained.

"For the next phase, we are keen on consolidating the concept of sustainable partnerships between the two countries in various fields so that this partnership can last for generations,” Binzagr stressed.

“I believe these old partnerships will last for decades and centuries to come,” he remarked.

Moreover, he noted that the oil sector was the cornerstone of the partnership and it will now shift to petrochemicals and the development of the petrochemical industry.