Saudi Arabia’s largest renewables firm expands into US

Washington-based investment firm EIG is forming a joint venture with ACWA to invest in US power projects. Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and Washington DC-based investment firm EIG will commit $4 billion to launch Plenum Power to invest in US power projects, aiming to capitalize on demand from data centers and electrification. The move marks ACWA’s first expansion into the US, having already built projects across 16 countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The partnership aims to combine EIG’s investment experience with the Saudi company’s development knowledge, to build new power plants and acquire existing ones. EIG will own 51% of Plenum Power and ACWA the remainder. ACWA, which was launched by a group of prominent Saudi families in 2002 to build domestic power and water plants, is now part-owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. The firm’s move into the US is a rare example of a Saudi firm embarking on an international growth drive.