ACWA Power to become a net zero energy producer, CEO says
Company to end investment in non-renewable schemes as part of its commitment to attain net zero emissions by 2050
The head of ACWA Power, Saudi Arabia’s only listed company with ambitious renewable projects, plans to end investment in non-renewable schemes as part of the business’s commitment to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
Speaking ahead of the Saudi Green Initiative forum that will be held in Riyadh on Oct. 23, Paddy Padmanathan, chief executive of ACWA Power, which floated on the Kingdom’s stock exchange earlier this month, told Arab News: “We want to reduce carbon emissions, because climate change is real. We can see it, we can feel it.”
Riyadh-based ACWA, which is 44 percent owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund, is the
Kingdom’s most high-profile entity for building renewable energy and hydrogen projects.
The company is expected to deliver at least 70 percent of Saudi Arabia’s renewable schemes by 2030, and is forecast to take part in around $30 billion worth of green projects over the next 10 years, as the Kingdom’s strategy to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels gathers pace.
ACWA began trading on the Saudi stock market after selling an 11 percent stake. The move values the entire company at $10.9 billion.
Padmanathan said: “We will not invest in coal going forward, we will not do any more coal power plants. We will not obviously do anymore oil. In terms of our existing oil-fired power plants in the Kingdom, the government is committed to shutting those down by 2030, so we’ll be working with them on how to shut those down, and then repower them all.”