A second green hydrogen plant incoming: Acwa Power is tapping Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas and China’s Sinopec Guangzhou for a front-end engineering design contract for Saudi Arabia's second multi-bn USD green hydrogen plant in Yanbu, Bloomberg reports, citing a trading note by the Spanish firm. The two firms will complete the plant’s design within 10 months before bidding for the construction contract.

About the project: The new plant, which will run on solar and wind power, will have an electrolysis capacity of 4 GW and is expected to produce 400k tons of green hydrogen annually for export markets. Commercial operations are slated for 2030.

Doubling down: The project follows limited commercial traction for Acwa Power’s initial USD8.5 bn green hydrogen plant at Neom, which is set to start operations in 2027 and aims to produce 219k tons of green hydrogen annually. Acwa, Neom, and Air Products’ JV Neom Green Hydrogen Company are reportedly shifting attention to the local market after a slowdown in securing international buyers.

Plotting ahead: Acwa just completed a SAR 7.1 bn rights issue this week, after the rump offering was 6x oversubscribed, according to a statement. The issuance will grant the company the immediate firepower to continue aggressive expansion, with 75-86% of the proceeds directed toward new projects in the Kingdom, CEO Marco Arcelli told EnterpriseAM Saudi earlier this month.

REMEMBER- The renewables giant inked multiple agreements and MoUs with European partners earlier this month to lay the groundwork for a green hydrogen and renewables export corridor between Saudi Arabia and Europe earlier this month.

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