Funding for Saudi plant almost done

RIYADH: The financing for a green hydrogen project in Neom, Saudi Arabia, set to be one of the world’s largest, may soon be completed, according to ACWA Power Co.

Construction of the Us$5bil (Rm23.3bil) plant in the north-west of the kingdom has started and it’s “very much on track” to be finished on schedule in 2026, Paddy Padmanathan, chief executive officer of ACWA, said in an interview.

Saudi Arabia’s biggest renewable energy firm is a member of the consortium leading the project. Other companies include Us-based Air Products and Chemicals Inc.

“We expect to complete the full financing before the end of this year,” Padmanathan said at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. “We are almost done.”

The equity partners have put in about Us$900mil (Rm4.2bil) of their own money, he said.

Saudi Arabia wants to be the world’s main exporter of hydrogen. The fuel only emits water vapour when burned, making it less polluting than oil, natural gas and coal.

The technology for producing it on a massscale is still unproven, but the market could be worth Us$700bil (Rm3.3bil) annually by 2050 if manufacturers can bring down costs, according to — Bloomberg