Vice Chairman & MD's message

"I have no doubt that the steps we have taken over the past two years will enable us to grow at an accelerating pace and scale."
Having been with ACWA Power for two years, this is a good moment to reflect on our progress and the outlook as we head towards our 2030 milestone.
I decided to join ACWA Power early in 2023 because I felt strongly that my priorities aligned closely with the Company, and I wanted to contribute to its future success. I was particularly attracted to the innovative and ambitious culture of the whole team and all my experiences to date confirm that my decision was the right one.
My role is to be a bridge between the Board and senior management, so helping to make sure that we execute our strategy and serve all our stakeholders in the process. I am delighted to be working closely with our CEO and the senior executive team to achieve the ambitious goals of our company. I continue to be amazed by the executive team’s energy, enthusiasm and capacity.
Accelerating to 2030
During my first months, I chaired the ACWA Power 2.0 strategy taskforce made up of members of both the Board and management. We collectively focused on the refinement of the new growth strategy, paving the way for the Company to become a global leader in energy transition and water desalination, by tripling our assets under management by 2030, and becoming an employer and partner of choice as well as being an industry thought leader.
I can now report that we are well and truly on track to meet these ambitious targets, thanks largely to the commitment and ingenuity of all the people within the ACWA Power family.
Given that our single most important asset is our people, we have rightly invested in our workforce and management so that we can all be the best version of ourselves. One of our important initiatives was to put in place a new organisational structure with a new layer of empowered and engaged leaders, delegated to grow our business at the speed and scale required across our four regions.
One of the many benefits of this new structure is the degree to which we can localise our operations and resources, bringing into our family local talents, partners, suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), thereby aligning closely with the growth ambitions and social policies of the host governments in the 13 countries where we operate.
We have also ramped up our recruitment, training and engagement programmes at all levels to ensure that we have the right people in the right places to deliver growth. By doing so, we are providing exciting new career opportunities for more and more people who have the aptitude and ambition to take us forward.
We have been keen to ensure that as we grow to reach our targets, we do not become too institutionalised: that we retain our entrepreneurial, creative spirit and foster an environment in which anyone in the family can challenge the status quo. Bolstered by constructive disruption, creativity and innovation, we have maintained our progress in new deals, new technology and new processes.
Our progress during 2024 demonstrates that our strategy is working. By all our performance measures, new business development, financial closes, and new projects under construction as well as projects coming online, we have proved that we are delivering, while maintaining our financial resilience and health.
Fostering productive stakeholder relationships
One of the most important aspects of my role is to develop key relationships at a government level wherever we operate.
ACWA Power aligns with Saudi Vision 2030 and works closely with the Ministry of Energy, PIF, and other key stakeholders. I am delighted to do what I can to further these partnerships for the benefit of all concerned, particularly given that there is such a prevailing spirit of cooperation and ambition across the board.
And when travelling to meet government officials and corporate partners, I am keen to remain global in our outlook but local in our focus. In 2024, we were appointed as the Energy & Water Partner for COP29 in Azerbaijan, we attended COP16 in Riyadh, we partnered with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), we committed to the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning Sustainability Champion Programme, and we participated in the Water, Energy Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) in Dubai. These and other events proved to be fertile environments for us, as a respected industry leader, to learn more, share more and identify more opportunities for collaboration with others.
Scaling up at speed
Given our close and productive relationship with PIF, Saudi Arabia remains our principal growth pipeline. At the same time, developing economies where we operate are experiencing rapid industrialisation, population growth, and above‑OECD levels of economic expansion, driving strong demand for power and water solutions.
We are very well positioned for rapid growth, given our long term, strategic relationships at central and local government levels in our home country and across the regions where we operate. This has been a highly productive springboard for our rapid expansion in Central Asia, particularly in Uzbekistan, and for our first projects in China, the world’s largest renewables market. Our longstanding and well‑established presence in the country is starting to bear fruit and I am confident that its vast market will give us the space to grow.
Looking ahead, we are making significant progress in our plan to establish a hydrogen bridge between Saudi Arabia and Europe, an increasingly vital market for affordable, renewable energy sourced from developing economies.
I have no doubt that the steps we have taken over the past two years will enable us to grow at an accelerating pace and scale. Our continued focus on our people and their development remains the key to our success.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our team for their hard work, dedication, and innovation. I look forward to working together as we continue to deliver outstanding results for all our stakeholders.
Raad Al‑Saady
Vice Chairman and Managing Director