Acwa Power inked seven partnership agreements for green hydrogen and desalination projects with local and foreign outfits during its Innovation Days event (ID25) in Riyadh, a record number for the annual gathering, it said in a press release. No investment tickets or timelines were disclosed for the agreements.

Two agreements were signed with Saudi Aramco — one to implement an Advanced Photovoltaic (PV) Energy Forecasting project using big data and machine learning, and another to test and assess the reliability of vanadium flow battery (FVFB) technology in the local climate for long-duration energy storage, and the integration of renewable energy for applications that include water desalination.

More agreements were lined up: Acwa Power will test advanced water filtration with the UK’s Bluewater Bio, as well as anti-scaling chemicals from US-based Dow. The renewables giant also signed a pilot agreement with Australia’s Hysata to scale green hydrogen production with help from the company’s high-efficiency electrolyzers.

A push in research and development: Acwa Power also extended its Master Research Agreement on solar power and water desalination with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, while inking an R&D framework with Germany’s Fraunhofer IMWS, Fraunhofer ISC, and Fraunhofer IWES on renewable energy and green hydrogen.

ICYMI- Acwa is doubling down on green hydrogen: Acwa Power plans to expand its portfolio in renewables, green hydrogen, and water desalination to some USD 250 bn by 2030, and is currently implementing projects worth USD 97 bn, 60% of which are Saudi-based, its Geo Head of Saudi Hesham Tashkandi said last week. The firm also inked an MoU with Germany’s SEFE to establish the Saudi-German Green Hydrogen Bridge that looks to export 200k tons per year of Saudi-made green hydrogen to Europe by 2030. Another MoU was signed last month with Italy’s Snam, looking to explore a green hydrogen supply chain from the Kingdom to Europe.

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