Acwa Power to raise $2bn in rights issue

• Aims to treble assets
• Annual equity commitment to double
• 75 projects currently on the go

Saudi Arabia’s green energy developer, Acwa Power, plans to raise SAR7 billion ($1.9 billion) in new capital through a rights issue to help treble its assets under management by 2030. 

The company, which is owned by the government’s Public Investment Fund, said the new shares issued to current shareholders would allow Acwa to “anchor its growth strategy … and enhance its financial position”. 

Acwa said in a statement to the Saudi stock market that it expected to double its average annual equity commitment – the amount of money available for investment – from $1 billion-$1.3 billion to $2 billion-$2.5 billion.

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In 2020 PIF increased its holding in Acwa to 50 percent from 33.6 percent, but reduced this to 44 percent after an initial public offering of 11.1 percent of shares in 2021 that raised $1.2 billion. 

The Saudi infrastructure investment holding company Vision Invest holds nearly 23 percent of Acwa’s shares, stock market filings say.

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Acwa currently has almost $15 billion of assets, including $5 billion in shareholders’ equity and paid capital of around $2 billion. 

The company has 75 projects in various development stages, and operations in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.

The total investment value is nearly $80 billion, with the capacity to generate 50 gigawatts of power and manage almost 8 million cubic metres of desalinated water daily.

In 2023 Acwa Power achieved financial closure on 12 projects worth a combined investment cost of $16 billion, including the Neom green hydrogen project.