Riyadh – Mubasher: ACWA Power Company received an equity bridge loan from the Bank of China at a value of $80 million to finance its Tashkent 200MW Solar PV and 500MWh BESS in Uzbekistan.

The equity bridge loan consists of two tranches, 50% in RMB and 50% in USD, according to a press release.

The loan marks the first RMB loan cooperation between a Chinese bank and a Saudi enterprise. This transaction culminated the initial agreement reached during the 3rd BRF summit in October 2023 where ACWA Power was represented by its chairman as a keynote speaker.

Abdulhameed Al Muhaidib, Chief Financial Officer of ACWA Power, said: “We have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial partnership with the Bank of China since 2009.”

“This milestone is a strong signifier of the confluence between Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and China’s Belt and Road initiative, and we are delighted to deepen our cooperation with the Bank of China to bring renewable energy at competitive tariffs to our key markets including Uzbekistan,” Al Muhaidib continued.

It is worth highlighting that Chinese companies invested over $10 billion in ACWA Power projects since the company’s inception.

General Manager of the Bank of China, Pan Xinyuan, mentioned: “Bank of China will further leverage its strengths to support the cooperation between Saudi enterprises like ACWA Power and their Chinese partners for win-win objectives.”

Earlier this month, Sirdarya CCGT Independent Power Project (IPP), the subsidiary of ACWA Power, started partial commercial operation in Uzbekistan.