ACWA Power will use stock market cash to expand green hydrogen projects: chairman

The Riyadh-based firm, of which the Saudi sovereign fund (PIF) owns 44 percent, saw its shares jump by 30 percent when trading opened on the Saudi stocks exchange (Tadawul) on Monday.

The market value of the company increased by $3 billion in the first few minutes of trading, Al-Arabiya reported.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Abunayyan said: “Just as Saudi Arabia has always been leading energy production, today it will be leading in green energy production too.”

When it comes to green hydrogen, he added: “The demands are very high and exceed our capabilities, but we are committed to what we can manage and we focus on sustainability.”

The newly-listed company operates in 13 countries around the world, managing projects of about SR66 billion.

Two weeks ago ACWA Power announced a new project with Saudi oil firm Aramco, which has a value of SR45 billion.

“We are in the stages of financial closure, and the launch of the project will begin soon,” Abunayyan said during an interview with CNBC Arabia.

He added that the company’s water desalination and renewable energy plants are also in great demand, as ACWA Power is considered to be the number one water desalination producers around the world.

“About 81 million entities take electricity from ACWA Power worldwide, and 41 million entities use our water desalination,” he said.