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Acwa Power gets Chinese partner for Uzbek green projects

By Pramod Kumar
Acwa China Unsplash/Vitor Paladini
The stake sale will allow Acwa Power to use its capital recycling strategy and promote cooperation with strong equity partners

The Saudi renewable energy company Acwa Power has divested a 35 percent stake in two subsidiaries to a state-backed power grid contractor in China for SAR596 million ($159 million).

Acwa Power signed sale and purchase agreements for the stake in Acwa Power Bash Wind Project Holding and Acwa Power Uzbekistan Wind Project Holding to China Southern Power Grid International (HK).

The Saudi company will continue to hold a 65 percent stake in both operations.

The sale to China Southern Power Grid will allow Acwa Power to use its capital recycling strategy and promote cooperation with strong equity partners, it said.

The Bash 500-megawatt (MW) wind farm and the Dzhankeldy 500-MW wind farm are greenfield independent power projects in Uzbekistan.

The projects are under construction at an estimated total investment of SAR5 billion.

Acwa Power and JSC National Electrical Grid of Uzbekistan, the state-run sole off-taker, have signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the development, construction and operation in aggregate of 1 gigawatt.

China Southern Power Grid International, the overseas investment arm of China Southern Power Grid, is involved in power grids, power transmission, renewable energy and integrated smart energy.

In March, Acwa Power’s CEO, Marco Arcelli, said the company had started due diligence on up to eight projects in China.

“The first one will be announced in the coming few months,” he said in the company’s Q4 2023 financial statement.

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