NEOM green hydrogen JV to secure billions in financing in early 2022: ACWA Power chief

NEOM green hydrogen JV to secure billions in financing in early 2022: ACWA Power chief

DUBAI: ACWA Power, which debuted on Saudi Arabia’s stock market on Monday, expects to finalize in the first quarter of next year billions of dollars in financing for a green hydrogen joint venture at the planned futuristic city NEOM, ACWA’s CEO said. The project, which will be equally owned by Air Products, ACWA Power and NEOM, will produce green ammonia for export to global markets, with the first shipment expected from NEOM’s port in the first quarter of 2026. “We have not actually finalized the group of banks yet, but we are very advanced in structuring and work is being done internally,” CEO Paddy Padmanathan told Reuters in an interview, adding the project was “on track.” Roughly 20 percent of the $6.5 billion project will be funded with equity and the rest will be limited-recourse project finance, he said. “We would very much like to make sure it’s sustainability-linked,” he added. Reuters reported in January that the joint venture had hired financial firm Lazard to advise on the project. ACWA Power is planning projects this year with a total investment cost of around $16 billion, Padmanathan said. Some projects planned last year were pushed into this year due to the