Market Intelligence
Renewable Energy Saudi Arabia
ACWA Power, Saudi Arabia’s indigenous developer, investor, and operator of electricity generation and water desalination plants, is poised to lead the Kingdom’s energy transformation. What started as a local fossil fuel-driven utility provider is morphing into one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy (RE) solutions, with projects in ten countries and an upcoming initial public offering expected to raise more than $1 billion. The Kingdom has placed its bets on ACWA Power to achieve its Vision 2030 renewable energy goal to provide 70 percent of the Kingdom’s RE-generated power needs.
Saudi Arabia has placed ACWA Power at the center of its Vision 2030 goal to eliminate oil from its power production model. By 2030 Saudi Arabia plans to generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewables and the other half from gas. ACWA Power’s first project under this model, a solar plant in Sudair to the north of Riyadh, will be one of the largest single-contracted solar PV plants in the world, with an installed capacity of 1,500 megawatts capable of powering 185,000 homes and offsetting nearly 2.9 million tons of emissions each year.
The Next Endeavor: NEOM Green Hydrogen Plant
ACWA Power and NEOM are in preparation to develop a green hydrogen facility powered by solar and wind energy. The plant will produce 660 tons per day of green hydrogen, equivalent to total annual global production today. The green hydrogen will be converted into liquid ammonium and then shipped to Asia, predominantly South Korea and Japan.
U.S. Companies with renewable energy experts are encouraged to explore commercial opportunities in the Kingdom’s increasingly diversified energy sector. For market counseling please contact Tareq.Ghazel@trade.gov and mohammed.shujauddin@trade.gov
