ACWA Power fulfills terms to withdraw funding for SAR8.6B PV solar plants

ACWA Power Co. announced the fulfillment of the conditions precedent to the drawdown of the credit facilities to fund Ar Raas 2, Saad 2 and Al Kahfah solar PV projects in central and north Saudi Arabia.

The three large-scale projects have a production capacity of 4.55 gigawatt (GW) of solar PV energy, with a total investment cost of $3.4 billion (SAR 12.8 billion), including $2.3 billion (SAR 8.6 billion) to finance projects at a non-recourse basis.

ACWA Power owns a 50.1% stake in each of the three projects.

ACWA Power secured the financing facility on Feb. 14, 2024, from a consortium of local, regional and international banks, including Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Mizuho Bank, Riyad Bank, Saudi National Bank (SNB), Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC, at a total value of $2.3 billion (SAR 8.6 billion).

The credit facility tenor will extend for 27.75 years, guaranteed by ACWA Power pro-rata share of an equity bridge loan, standby equity and reserve account.

Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), a 100% subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has a stake of 49.9% in each of the three project companies. SNB is one of the financing entities. Both are related parties, the statement added.