ACWA Power expects its 60 GW capacity to grow to 180 GWs by 2030: CTO

Bart Boesmans, Chief Technology Officer at ACWA Power

ACWA Power Co. currently has a power production capacity of 60 gigawatts (GWs), coupled with eight million cubic meters per day (m3/day) of desalination, making it the world’s largest private desalination company, not to mention the NEOM green hydrogen project, CTO Bart Bosmans exclusively told Argaam.

On the sidelines of the eighth edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII8) Summit in Riyadh, Bosmans said about half of the company's total investments are concentrated in foreign markets, while the other half remains in Saudi Arabia.

ACWA Power invests in projects and not in developing technologies. It utilizes technologies better than any other competitor, but it does not consider itself a technology development firm.

He expected that the company’s production capacity to reach about three times higher by 2030, or to total 180 GWs. A large portion would be in renewable energy, with the remainder to be dedicated to power plants using gas.

ACWA Power is interested in new technologies such as battery storage, green hydrogen, and carbon capture. These technologies can transform the energy market landscape.

Thus, it invests in battery storage projects, having a capacity of around five GWs/hour in projects.

For over 20 years, ACWA Power has been introducing the latest technologies to transform the energy and water sectors. It managed to significantly trim costs of producing potable water from seawater by using new membrane-based technologies.

In the same way, it utilized the latest technologies in the renewable energy market, the CTO highlighted.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, especially the Kingdom, has the largest global growth opportunities in renewable and conventional energy. It enjoys ideal conditions for renewable energy and green energy in general, in terms of strong solar radiation, a strong economy, and sustainable financing, in addition to the availability of necessary lands and infrastructure.

ACWA Power’s portfolio, according to Bosmans, is largely focused on the MENA region and is witnessing rapid growth in Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where it is implementing large-scale projects including wind, solar, and battery storage.

He added that its business activities are distributed among African countries such as Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa. It has also started to develop projects in China.

The Middle East is witnessing unprecedented transformation in the energy sector. Saudi Arabia, in particular, boasts a leadership position thanks to its renewable energy ambitions. The Kingdom seeks to add about 130 GWs of energy by the end of the current decade, equivalent to about 20 GWs annually.

ACWA Power focuses mainly on the Kingdom, which constitutes about half of its operations, while the other half is spread across the GCC countries and Central Asia, in addition to its projects in Africa and some Southeast Asian nations.

Further, Bosmans expressed his company’s keenness for stable macroeconomics that provide a long-term investment environment. He also highlighted that Central Asian economies are witnessing rapid growth in demand, making them competent to meet this demand in a sustainable manner.