Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power is targeting about 120 GW of power-generating capacity in the next 10 years with a presence in 20 countries, and it plans to raise more money through the issuance of a bond at the end of this year or early next year to fund its growth plans.
The Riyadh-listed company is active in 13 countries with a power generation capacity of about 43 GW, with 37% of the total capacity being renewables. The company aims to take the total renewable capacity to 70% in the next decade, with the rest consisting of the gas portfolio, according to its chief financial officer.
“To grow our portfolio, we are looking at a pipeline of 20 countries in the next 10 years … the new countries will be mainly in Africa and Asia including South-East Asia and Central Asia,” Abdulhameed Al Muhaidib told The National on the sidelines of the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition in Dubai on 27th September.
Acwa Power announced a number of new projects this year as it continues to boost its energy portfolio globally.
Last month, the company signed $12 billion worth of agreements to develop new energy projects in Uzbekistan, including the world’s largest single onshore wind project, with a total capacity of 1.5 GW, in the Karakalpakstan region of the country.
It was also selected as the preferred bidder to develop 2 solar plants in Indonesia, South-East Asia's largest economy, and is leading a consortium to establish a 1.1-GW wind project worth US$1.5bn in Egypt.
“We tend to spend time exploring the market before we go there... we are targeting capacity of at least 5 to 6 GW to grow in each country…otherwise, it does not make commercial sense for us,” Mr Al Muhaidib said.
Acwa Power, which raised 2.8bn Saudi riyals (US$746 million) through the issuance of a sukuk last year, is looking to raise more money this year to fund its pipeline of projects.
Acwa Power signed a preliminary agreement with France's Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking last year to secure financing of up to $2bn for its renewable projects.