During the recent official visit to China by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defence, ACWA Power signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with two renowned Chinese entities. The agreements with the Silk Road Fund and Huawei will lay the ground for collaboration in further investments and in technological advancements of power generation and desalinated water production plants that ACWA Power develops and operates. Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan, chairman of ACWA Power, said, "Our growing relationships with major Chinese entities is a reflection of the strong and friendly ties between Saudi Arabia and China. As a leading developer of power and water assets in the region committed to reducing cost and investing in several countries within the Belt and Road initiative corridor, ACWA Power has the unique position of being able to support the economic transformation envisioned by both; the ambitious and collaborative Belt and Road initiative as well as Saudi Arabia's forward-looking and iconic Vision 2030. We look forward to playing a vital role in both these national agendas which complement each other." In the presence of Prince Muhammad and Vice Premier of State Council of China Han Zheng, Abunayyan signed a MoU with Wang Yanzhi, CEO from the Silk Road Fund. Under the agreement, the Silk Road Fund will partner with the company to invest in ACWA Power Renewable Energy Holding Ltd in Belt and Road countries including South Africa, UAE, Jordan and Egypt. Following the first signing, at the Saudi China Investment and Cooperation Forum (Future Forward Partnerships), ACWA Power also entered into an agreement with Huawei, a leading global ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and energy network solutions provider. The two companies will be collaborating on utilizing ICT to increase efficiency and improve performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy projects owned and operated by ACWA Power including the Sakaka PV IPP, the first utility scale solar plant in Saudi Arabia. The collaboration also extends to digitalization of power plant management. Paddy Padmanathan, president of ACWA Power, commented: "Over the last few years we have been privileged to work with an increasing number of Chinese investors, financial service providers, technology providers and EPC contractors on our rapidly expanding portfolio and we are eager to nurture and expand these very successful collaborations. The synergies created through these agreements will allow us to maintain our cost leadership reputation creating immense value to the ultimate beneficiaries of the electricity and desalinated water we provide - the people of the countries we invest in." ACWA Power already has well-established relationships with several Chinese companies. ACWA Power rolled out of a centralized control and monitoring pilot project that implemented Huawei's Fusion Solar solution for enhanced plant management, monitoring and control, last January. — SG
