Riyadh – Mubasher: Acwa appointed Samir J. Serhan as the new CEO as part of a planned and structured leadership transition and succession process overseen by the company’s Board Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

Since joining Acwa last year as president of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, Serhan has worked closely with the leadership team and is fully prepared to assume this new responsibility.

He was a chief operating officer of the US-based company Air Products, where he had global responsibility for the company’s operational business and project execution with P&L accountability for the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India.

He also led functions including technology, global engineering, manufacturing, and equipment at Air Products.

Mohammad Abunayyan, Founder and Chairman of Acwa, said: “This structured leadership transition reflects the strength of our governance and the maturity of our business platform. Our strategic direction remains clear and unchanged. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Samir Serhan to his new role as CEO of Acwa.”

For his part, Serhan commented: "I am honored to lead Acwa at a pivotal moment as the company accelerates profitable global growth in renewable energy, water desalination, and green hydrogen solutions—including advancing green hydrogen to decarbonize heavy industries—to deliver scalable, sustainable impact worldwide.”

Marco Arcelli, the outgoing CEO of Acwa, highlighted: “Over the past three years, Acwa’s portfolio has doubled in size, and we are on track to double it again by 2030, scaling both our footprint and our impact. Acwa now produces around 25% of the world’s desalinated seawater.”

“We have expanded into new markets, including Azerbaijan, China, Kuwait, and Senegal, while advancing energy export opportunities from Saudi Arabia and cementing our leadership in green molecules.”

Meanwhile, Acwa provides clean drinking water for nearly 34 million people and power for almost 76 million people on a daily basis.

The group recently penned a deal with Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to develop 5 GW of five renewable energy projects.