Renewable energy giant Acwa Power has met the conditions required to draw a USD 2.3 bn loan to finance three solar projects in Saudi Arabia, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul on Thursday. Lenders include our friends at HSBC as well as Banque Saudi Fransi, Mizuho Bank, Riyad Bank, SNB, Standard Chartered, and SAB. The solar plants were originally expected to reach a financial close in 3Q 2023.

What we know: Acwa Power signed power purchase agreements with the Saudi Power Procurement Company to develop and operate three solar energy projects with a 4.5 GW capacity last May. Acwa and Badeel, which is backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, will jointly own the projects, with Acwa holding a 50.1% stake and Badeel 49.9%.

About the projects: The USD 3.4 bn projects will comprise the 2 GW Ar Rass 2 solar farm, the 1.12 GW Saad 2 PV plant, and the 1.42 Al Kahfah solar project and will power some 750k households in the kingdom once operational.

Acwa has more in the works: The company is also currently developing Saudi’s USD 2.2 bn Al Shuaibah 1 and Al Shuaibah 2 PV projects with capacities of 900 MW and 2.06 GW respectively. Acwa and Badeel are also developing the Shuaibah 3 seawater reverse osmosis desalination project.

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