Under the Auspices of the Minister of Water and Electricity

Riyadh: 25 December 2013: Under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Water and Electricity Engineer Abdullah Al-Hussain, ACWA Power company celebrated the occasion of the signing completion of the (PPA) Power Purchase Agreement for Rabigh 2 Independent Power Project (IPP), as well as finalizing the finance agreements between the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Al-Murjan for Electricity Production Company, " the project company ". The ceremony, which was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the city of Riyadh has been attended by a combination of specialists and those interested in the field of energy, as well as the project partners.

The project will deliver net 2060 MW of electricity to SEC under the PPA which has a term of 20 years from the scheduled commercial operations date of June 2017.  The winning consortium selected Siemens for the gas turbine generator unit and steam turbine generator unit, and Samsung C&T to engineer procure and construct ("EPC") the project. Once completed, the plant will be operated by the First National Operation & Maintenance Company ("NOMAC"), a subsidiary of ACWA Power, under a long-term Operations & Maintenance ("O&M") contract. The project agreements and finance agreements were all signed simultaneously.

The project, to be developed on a BOO (build, own, operate) basis, will be located in Rabigh, on the western coast of Saudi Arabia, 130 Km north of Jeddah adjacent to the Rabigh 1 IPP and other existing SEC facilities. The Project, the fourth in SEC's IPP program represents another significant milestone in the Saudi power sector given that this will be the first IPP to utilize combined Cycle Power plant with a gross thermal efficiency of c.58.8 % at Reference Site Conditions at Rabigh. The project company "Al-Mourjan for Electricity Production Company" has been established with the winning ACWA Power consortium and SEC owning 50% each.

R2IPP is a greenfield independent power project with a net generation capacity of 2060 MW. The project will utilize Natural Gas as main Fuel and Arabian Super Light (ASL) as backup Fuel and with the application of combined Cycle Power plant in a configuration of three groups, each comprised of two gas turbines of enhanced efficiency, two heat recovery steam generators ("HRSG") and one triple pressure steam turbine which will substantially reduce the fuel consumption, the impact on sea water temperatures and carbon emissions to the environment. R2IPP comprises 3 identical power blocks, each delivering a net output of 686.5 MW. The R2IPP plant will comply with all applicable environmental laws, guidelines, regulations and standards of the World Bank, IFC and the Saudi Presidency of Meteorology and Environment ("PME").

Mohammed Abunyyan, chairman of ACWA Power stated; "A project of this magnitude and of such a large scale would not have existed without our leadership's vision for the future, which cleared the way for the private sector's participation. I would like to take this the opportunity to thank His Excellency the Minister of Water and Electricity, Engineer Abdullah Al-Hussain for honoring this event with his presence".

Managing Director of ACWA Power Engineer Thamer Al Sharhan said; "ACWA Power is the lead developer of Rabigh 2 IPP not only because it will be the most efficient power plant in the Kingdom and MENA regional as well, but also because we have been able to establish a team of developers, equipment suppliers, EPC Contractor, O&M contractor and international & local lenders who, working together have been able to achieve a competitive tariff for SEC, which in turn will help to deliver value to the economic expansion of the country and at the same time serve the electricity needs of more than 2.5 million people in more than four hundred thousand households."

ACWA Power
ACWA Power is a developer, investor, co-owner and operator of a portfolio of plants with a capacity to generate 15,731 MW of power and produce 2.4 million m3/day of desalinated water. The portfolio has an investment value in excess of USD 23 billion and provides employment to more than 2,300 people in 8 countries.

The company was founded in 2004 as an operator of power generation and desalinated water producing plants in which it has a meaningful economic interest and exercises management control.  ACWA Power was born out of the policy decision by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to increase private sector involvement in the power generation and desalinated water production sectors to include ownership and operation of assets.

The company was incorporated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a paid-up capital of approx. USD 1.5 Billion.  It is owned by eight Saudi conglomerates along with Sanabil Direct Investment Company (owned by the Public Investment Fund) and the Saudi Public Pensions Agency.

From its head office in Saudi Arabia, ACWA Power has already expanded into the GCC, Jordan and Egypt and further afield to Turkey, Morocco, and the southern cone of Africa.  It has:

  • Regional offices in Dubai, Istanbul, Rabat, Johannesburg, Maputo and Beijing

  • A customer base that includes state utilities and industrial majors located on three continents

  • Employees representing 30 nationalities working in 10 countries

  • More than 20 plants spread over 8 countries.

The current portfolio of assets and investments delivers:

  • Over 6,050 MW of power and approximately 2.3 million m³/day of desalinated water in Saudi Arabia which represents 12% of the installed power generation capacity of the Kingdom and 45% of the desalinated water producing capacity of the Kingdom

  • 1,550 MW of power in Jordan which represents over 55% of the electricity generation capacity of Jordan

  • 427 MW of power and 91,000 m³/day of desalinated water in Oman, representing 6% of the installed electricity generation capacity  and 16% of desalinated water capacity of Oman

  • 60MWp using photovoltaic technology in its solar plant in Karadzhalovo, Bulgaria (which is the single largest renewable energy plant in that country).

The portfolio also includes the world's largest two sea going barge mounted, self-contained water desalination plants each capable of producing 25,000 m³/day of water.

New capacity of 5,900 MW of power generation, 55,000 m3/day of desalinated water and 2,270 tons per hour of steam capacity is under construction in Saudi Arabia. A 50 MWe Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant at Bokpoort in South Africa, a 160 MWe CSP plant at Ouarzazate in Morocco and a 45,000 m³/day of water desalination project in Oman are also under construction. In an advanced stage of development are an 850 MW gas fired plant in Turkey and a 300 MW coal fired power plant in Mozambique.

ACWA Power lives by its mission statement - to be the lowest cost producer of electricity and water in a sustainable fashion and operates the business according to its values which are: Diversity, Rigor, Ingenuity, Fairness and Integrity.

We redefine boundaries.

For more information please contact:
Saleh Alsadun | Corporate Communications- Specialist
PO Box 22616, Riyadh 11416, KSA
Tel:  +966 11 283 5568 | Mob: +966 55 8008 128
salsadun@acwapower.com | www.acwapower.com

© Press Release 2013