di Sara Deganello
The Saudi company, 44% owned by the sovereign wealth fund, has signed agreements with Confindustria, Eni, A2A, De Nora, Italmatch Chemicals and Rina. Objective: development of green hydrogen and desalination
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The Saudi company Acwa Power, which operates in the energy transition – including electricity production, green hydrogen, desalination – signed strategic agreements with six Italian partners on the occasion of the Saudi-Italian Investment Forum in Milan: Confindustria, Eni, A2A, De Nora , Italmatch Chemicals, Rina. The aim is to strengthen cooperation in the fields of green hydrogen, water desalination and research and development.
“We hope that this cooperation will lead to a greater penetration of Italian companies in Saudi Arabia,” commented Marco Arcelli, CEO of the company since last March. “We have the ambition to make Acwa Power a vehicle to create development opportunities for Italian and European companies in Saudi Arabia and to drive sustainable progress in Italy and Europe by providing green hydrogen and technical expertise,” added Arcelli.
Arabia: 150 billion for decarbonisation
The CEO recalled how the Pif sovereign wealth fund holds 44% of the shareholding while the company, listed on the Riyadh Stock Exchange, has a capitalization of 35 billion dollars. «Saudi Arabia has a 150 billion dollar investment plan for the next 7-8 years in the field of decarbonisation. It’s a fast-moving, growing, and globally influential world. As an Italian, I’m trying to create a link between the two systems. In Italy there is no specific project. But if there are investment opportunities in desalination, we are there as partners», underlined Arcelli. ACWA Power today has $79.4 billion of investments in 75 projects and plants in 12 countries. It produces 7.6 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day, with centres, in addition to Arabia, in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman: «In the last 10-15 years we have reduced the cost per cubic meter by 80%» , said the CEO. It also manages 50 GW of electricity capacity, almost half of which comes from renewables.
Green hydrogen and desalination
Specifically, as regards the agreements announced yesterday, Confindustria and its associates will evaluate with Acwa Power the potential for the development of green hydrogen and desalination projects. Cooperation with Eni will be examined, among other things, in the SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) sector. With A2A, imports of green hydrogen into Italy. The potential use of green hydrogen and its derivatives in the maritime transport industry will be studied with the Genoese Rina.
The Neom project
Industrie De Nora will contribute its expertise in electrochemistry and sustainable technologies to enhance Acwa Power’s portfolio of desalination projects, and possible cooperation in operations and maintenance of green hydrogen applications will be explored. “Among other things, De Nora makes electrolyser components together with ThyssenKrupp, already among Neom’s suppliers, in which we have already invested 1 of the 8.5 billion planned”, added Arcelli. The Neom Green Hydrogen Project in Arabia is on paper the largest utility-scale hydrogen plant in the world, powered entirely by renewable energy. Finally, Italmatch Chemicals will study the possibility of launching a line of water treatment products in Saudi Arabia with long-term supply agreements.
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2023-09-05 18:12:51
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