ACWA Power signs key collaborative agreements with leading Italian entities to drive sustainable growth

January 29, 2025

Five MoUs signed with four prominent Italian organisations, including Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), De Nora, SACE, and Ansaldo Energia.
Agreements encompass project financing, technology transfer and supply chain collaboration to support development in regions such as Africa, Central Asia and the Far East.
ACWA Power’s Italian partnerships bolster EU-MENA cooperation in green energy, positioning the company as a key player in the global energy transition.

ACWA Power, the world’s largest private water desalination company, leader in energy transition, and first mover into green hydrogen, has signed strategic Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with four prominent Italian organisations. These agreements, signed during the visit of the Italian PM to Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the Saudi-Italian High Level Roundtable Meeting in AlUla, aim to foster collaboration across project finance, insurance, energy generation, and water desalination technologies.

The partnerships include agreements with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the Italian financial Institution for Development Cooperation; De Nora, a multi-national company specialising in water treatment technologies; SACE, the Italian Export Credit Agency; and Ansaldo Energia, a power generation equipment manufacturer. The latter agreement was signed with NOMAC Holding, a fully-owned subsidiary of ACWA Power.

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The opportunities of cooperation between Saudi and Italian companies are immense in the sphere of supply, localisation, financing and energy. We believe that bringing together our competences and resources will significantly advance the energy transition and water security, promoting sustainable infrastructure developments not only in our countries but also in Africa, Central and Southeast Asia and the rest of the Middle East.

Marco Arcelli, Chief Executive Officer of ACWA Power

ACWA Power’s strategic partnerships with Italian entities span various sectors. The three-year agreement with CDP focuses on projects in ODA-eligible countries (those eligible for official development assistance) while promoting collaboration between ACWA Power and Italian companies in global supply chains. Concurrently, the agreement with De Nora will explore the integration of advanced water treatment technologies into ACWA Power’s desalination projects, including joint efforts to assess disinfection technologies and pilot test advanced systems.

SACE’s involvement is twofold: one agreement explores insurance and financial solutions to facilitate Italian exports and internationalisation, while another outlines a framework for ACWA Power to procure goods and services from Italian companies, both aimed at promoting trade and investment between Saudi Arabia and Italy. Additionally, the ACWA Power subsidiary NOMAC Holding’s two-year agreement with Ansaldo Energia will expand service capabilities in gas turbine part refurbishment, focusing on selected regions and exploring joint projects in Africa using Italian concessional finance.

The agreements signed by ACWA Power with leading Italian entities align with the Mattei Plan initiative, which emphasises fostering sustainable development and economic collaboration between Europe and key regions across Africa and beyond. These partnerships reflect Italy’s strategic commitment to enhancing growth and investment opportunities in countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Senegal—markets where ACWA Power is actively operating, or plans to operate—while strengthening EU-MENA ties to advance the global energy transition.

ACWA Power reported the signing of 21 new projects worth USD 14.5 billion in 2024, adding 14.5 GW of power and 0.4 million m3/day of water desalination capacity to its portfolio. In a sign of its ambitions, the company aims to triple its assets under management to 250 assets and USD 250 billion by 2030, focusing on global leadership in water desalination and renewable energy. This includes plans to develop 70% of Saudi Arabia’s renewables pipeline, while also expanding internationally in markets like Uzbekistan, China, and Africa, where ACWA Power is already making significant inroads.