New projects will be planned with Silk Road Fund becoming a shareholder in ACWA Power RenewCo Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power has reportedly announced that China-based Silk Road Fund has completed the acquisition of a 49 percent stake in ACWA Power RenewCo, its renewable energy platform. The value of the deal remains undisclosed and the transaction is subject to customary approvals. Citing reliable sources, ACWA Power RenewCo will own ACWA Power’s PV, CSP, and wind assets located across the UAE, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan, yielding a total capacity close to 1668 MW. Paddy Padmanathan, ACWA Power President and CEO, stated that ACWA Power and Silk Road Fund’s collaboration is an indicator of the strategic and robust alliance between Saudi Arabia and China that grows stronger each year. Sources added that new projects will be planned with Silk Road Fund becoming a shareholder in ACWA Power RenewCo. Rajit Nanda, Chief Investment Officer, ACWA Power, commented that being a leading developer of power and water assets in the region, Silk Road Fund coming on board as a stakeholder would further enable the firm to support both the economic transformation foreseen by the Belt and Road initiative as well as the forward-looking Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia. According to reports, ACWA Power and Silk Road Fund have earlier co-invested in two major projects based in UAE, including the MBR Solar Park’s 950 MW Hybrid CSP & PV fourth phase and the 2400 MW Hassyan clean coal power plant, to respectively power 320,00 residential homes as well as 1.3 million people. For the record, UAE-based ACWA Power is an investor, developer that co-owns and operates a portfolio of power generation and desalinated water production plants currently located across ten countries situated in the Southern Africa, Middle East and North Africa, and South East Asia regions. Silk Road Fund is a Beijing-headquartered medium-to-long term development and investment fund under the Belt and Road Initiative framework. Source credits: https://gulfbusiness.com/chinas-silk-road-fund-acquires-49-stake-saudis-acwa-power-unit/