The International Finance Corporation (IFC) unit of the World Bank has agreed with ACWA Power to buy $100mn worth of new ownership shares in the Saudi firm. The bank’s planned equity stake has not been disclosed. The IFC says the funding will “help the company significantly increase the amount of power it generates from renewable sources and meet growing energy demand throughout the Middle East, North Africa and the southern cone of Africa.”
ACWA chairman Muhammad Abunayyan says the company’s development of 15GW of powergen capacity over the last decade and its position as one of the world’s largest owners and operators of desalination plants, “have attracted the interest of the IFC.” The IFC began working with ACWA in 2011 in Jordan, where it has 51% of generator CEGCO, and is considering investing with ACWA in Morocco’s 160MW Noor-1 solar project, where construction is under way (MEES, 17 May 2013). (CONTINUED - 270 WORDS)
