ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabian utility developer partially owned by the sovereign Public Investment Fund, has secured USD 8.5bn in financing for the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project (NGHP).
The project, a joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products, and NEOM Company, is set to be commissioned in 2026. ACWA Power holds a 33.3% equity stake in the NGHP, which will be funded by a combination of long-term debt and equity.
The financing includes USD 5.852bn in senior debt and USD 475M in mezzanine debt facilities arranged on a non-recourse project finance basis, as follows: USD 1.50bn from the National Development Fund (NDF) on behalf of the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF). USD 1.25bn is in the form of Saudi riyal denominated financing from Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF).
A consortium of financiers, including First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank, provided the remaining balance through a combination of long-term uncovered tranches and a Euler Hermes covered tranche.
The NGHP will establish and operate a green hydrogen and green ammonia facility in the NEOM region of Saudi Arabia under a 30-year green ammonia offtake contract with Air Products.
The NEOM Green Hydrogen Project is the world’s largest utility scale, commercially-based hydrogen facility powered entirely by renewable energy.
When commissioned in 2026, the NGHP will produce 600 tonnes per day of clean hydrogen by electrolysis using thyssenkrupp technology; production of nitrogen by air separation using Air Products technology; and production of up to 1.2 million tonnes per year of green ammonia. When complete, the project will mitigate the impact of 5 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions per year.