Saudi-based Acwa Power has signed deals with Chinese entities, Silk Road Fund and Huawei, to lay the ground for collaboration in further investments and technological advancements of power generation and water desalination plants being developed and operated by the Saudi group.

This MoU comes as part of the official visit of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, to China.

Acwa Power already has well-established relationships with several Chinese companies. It had rolled out a centralised control and monitoring pilot project that implemented Huawei’s Fusion Solar solution for enhanced plant management, monitoring and control, last January.

The company's growing relationships with major Chinese entities is a reflection of the strong and friendly ties between the two countries, said Acwa Power Chairman Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan after signing the MoU with Silk Road Fund CEO Wang Yanzhi in the presence of Prince Mohammed and Vice Premier of State Council of China Han Zheng.

"As a leading developer of power and water assets in the region committed to reducing cost and investing in several countries within the Belt and Road initiative corridor, we have the unique position of being able to support the economic transformation envisioned by both; the ambitious and collaborative Belt and Road initiative as well as Saudi Arabia’s forward-looking and iconic Vision 2030," he noted.

"We look forward to playing a vital role in both these national agendas which complement each other," he added.

Under the agreement, the Silk Road Fund will partner with the company to invest in Acwa Power Renewable Energy Holding Ltd in Belt and Road countries including South Africa, UAE, Jordan and Egypt.

Following the first signing, at the Saudi China Investment and Cooperation Forum (Future Forward Partnerships), ACWA Power also entered into an agreement with Huawei, a leading global ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and energy network solutions provider.

The two companies will be collaborating on utilising ICT to increase efficiency and improve performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy projects owned and operated by ACWA Power including the Sakaka PV IPP, the first utility scale solar plant in Saudi Arabia. The collaboration also extends to digitalisation of power plant management.

Acwa Power President Paddy Padmanathan said: "Over the last few years we have been privileged to work with an increasing number of Chinese investors, financial service providers, technology providers and EPC contractors on our rapidly expanding portfolio and we are eager to nurture and expand these very successful collaborations."

"The synergies created through these agreements will allow us to maintain our cost leadership reputation creating immense value to the ultimate beneficiaries of the electricity and desalinated water we provide - the people of the countries we invest in," he added.-TradeArabia News Service