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Monday, 24 June 2019

China’s Silk Road Fund buys into Egypt renewable energy scene through acquisition of large Acwa Power stake

M&A WATCH- China’s Silk Road Fund buys into Egypt renewable energy scene through acquisition of large Acwa Power stake: China’s state-owned Silk Road Fund has acquired a 49% stake in Saudi utility developer Acwa Power’s renewable energy unit, Arabian Business reports. No details of the investment have been released. The renewable energy platform, Acwa Power RenewCo, will own Acwa Power’s solar power and wind assets in Egypt, the UAE, South Africa, Jordan and Morocco, which have an aggregate generation capacity of nearly 1.7 GW, according to a press release. Acwa Power and the Chinese government investment fund have previously co-invested in two projects in the UAE.

Acwa is an emerging power in Egypt’s renewable energy sector: Late last year, Acwa and Hassan Allam signed a power purchase agreement with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company for a 2.3 GW, USD 2.3 bn power plant in Luxor, which is expected to operate at full capacity by 2023. Acwa also recently submitted the best-priced offer in the EETC’s tender to build a 200 MW solar power plant in Kom Ombo.

Key market: Acwa Power’s CEO Paddy Padmanathan has previously stated that Egypt is a core market for renewable energy sector growth and we noted in March that the company plans to invest USD 3 bn in Egypt this year, with funds directed to energy projects in Luxor and the Benban solar power complex in Aswan.

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