Saudi Power co ACWA eyes $10b overseas deals

Riyadh: ACWA Power International, an electricity and water company expanding outside Saudi Arabia, plans to bid for $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) in contracts this year in the Gulf region, Africa and Turkey as well as its home market.

The closely held company, which may sell shares to investors in 2013, is looking "to become a global company operating on a world platform", ACWA Chief Executive Officer Paddy Padmanathan said Tuesday in an interview in Riyadh.

Within the next five years, ACWA aims to increase its power generation capacity, including plants under construction, to 30,000 megawatts from 6,000 megawatts, with half the total outside Saudi Arabia, Padmanathan said.

Arabian Gulf states are boosting power supply to meet rising demand from growing populations and as they aim to spur economic growth through investment.

Opportunities

Saudi Arabia is seeking private investment to power industrial cities. The United Arab Emirates is beginning a nuclear energy programme to diversify supply.

ACWA, which operates facilities with partners, plans this year to bid on $2.5 billion worth of projects in Saudi Arabia, and will also take part in tenders in Oman, Abu Dhabi, Morocco and Turkey, Padmanathan said. ACWA may later also bid on projects in Qatar, Jordan, South Africa and Botswana, he said. "We have picked these countries because they've all got wonderful opportunities for rapidly growing power demand," Padmanathan said of the areas where ACWA wants to expand.

ACWA agreed in December to buy a 58 per cent stake in an Omani power and water plant, marking the first expansion outside its home market. It has $5 billion in existing bids submitted with partners to build and operate two power plants in Oman and one in Saudi Arabia.