China’s Silk Road Fund acquires 49% stake in Saudi’s ACWA Power unit

Saudi-based ACWA Power announced that China’s Silk Road Fund has acquired a 49 per cent stake in its renewable energy platform, ACWA Power RenewCo.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

ACWA Power RenewCo will own ACWA Power’s CSP, PV, and wind assets across the UAE, South Africa, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, yielding an aggregate capacity of 1668MW, a statement said.

The transaction is subject to customary consents.

Paddy Padmanathan, president and CEO of ACWA Power said: “ACWA Power and Silk Road Fund’s further collaboration is a mirror image of the robust and strategic ties between Saudi Arabia and China that is strengthened year after year.”

ACWA Power and Silk Road Fund have previously co-invested in two UAE-based projects, including the 2400MW Hassyan clean coal power plant and the 950MW Hybrid CSP and PV fourth phase of MBR Solar Park to respectively power 1.3 million people and 320,00 residential homes.

Read: Consortium led by Saudi’s ACWA Power to raise over $2bn for Dubai solar project

With Silk Road Fund set to become a shareholder in ACWA Power RenewCo, new projects will be planned, the statement added.

The Silk Road Fund is a medium-to-long term development and investment fund established in Beijing under the framework of “Belt and Road Initiative”.