ACWA Power Gets $344m Loan For Dubai Solar Energy Project

Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power is obtaining a loan of about $344 million from three banks to finance a solar energy project in Dubai, chief executive Paddy Padmanathan said on Sunday.

The 27-year amortising loan with an interest rate of four per cent is being provided by Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank and two Saudi banks, National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, he told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference.

Padmanathan said the entire project would cost about $400 million, of which the bank financing would account for 86 percent. “We are working towards signing by end-March,” he said.

The solar plant, to be built by a consortium of ACWA and Spain’s TSK, was ordered by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and will have a capacity of 200 megawatts.

ACWA is preparing bids for projects worth $7 billion in areas from from south Asia to the Middle East and North Africa and South Africa, Padmanathan said. “It is a very, very buoyant sector.”

The company’s 2014 results are due to be compiled in April and it expects to achieve 15-20 per cent profit growth, Padmanathan added.

ACWA is awaiting regulatory approval for an initial public offer of its shares; the size of the IPO has not been finalised, he said. Asked about the company’s value, he said: “We control about $25 billion-plus of assets – that is, we are invested in.”