Solar power continues to lead the way in Asia’s green energy boom.
ACWA Power, a renewable energy developer, recently became the largest Saudi Arabian IPO since Aramco.
Meanwhile, India’s Reliance Industries and Tata Power are quickly rolling out plans to expand their solar holdings throughout the next decade.
In China, where an energy crisis has driven coal prices to record highs, the country has begun construction on a renewable energy project that could eventually generate 400 GW of power capacity.
Related ETF & Stocks: Invesco Solar ETF (TAN), Saudi Arabian Oil Company (2222.SR), ACWA Power International (2082.SE), Reliance Industries Limited (RELIANCE.NS), The Tata Power Company Limited (TATAPOWER.NS)
As MRP highlighted back in June, some of North America and Europe’s largest fossil fuel producers, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell, are launching initiatives to decarbonize their business and expand green energy holdings throughout the next couple of decades.
From the Middle East to China, renewable energy capacity is also exploding across Asia.
Saudi Arabia
At the end of 2019, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, initiated the largest IPO in history. Just last week, ACWA Power International, a renewable energy firm, became the Kingdom’s largest offering since. Per Bloomberg, ACWA was valued at $10.9 billion prior to its recent IPO in Riyadh, raising more than $1.2 billion. Following that listing, the stock price has surged.
As MRP noted in August, Aramco recently took a 30% stake in a $907 million Saudi solar power plant, expected to generate a total capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of electricity. Per S&P Global Platts, the project will be able to power 185,000 homes, while offsetting nearly 2.9 million tonnes per year of emissions. ACWA, itself half-owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, will also take a 35% stake.
Going forward, S&P Global notes that ACWA expects to take part in about $30 billion worth of renewable projects with partners Saudi Aramco and the fund, the company’s CEO, Paddy Padmanathan. ACWA Power expects the renewable projects to represent at least 85% of its total portfolio by 2030, thanks to Saudi Arabia’s ambitious program.
ACWA Power already has five projects certified for green finance, which together will require just under $10 billion in financing. Padmanathan recently told Reuters that ACWA will look at issuing green bonds starting next year. Its total power portfolio by 2030 is expected to be around 150 GW.
India
In August, R. K. Singh, India’s minister of power, announced that the country’s installed renewable energy capacity had “crossed the milestone” of 100 GW. That’s a good start, but nowhere near the renewable capacity the country is targeting by the end of the decade – a transformation that will be led by solar.
According to Mercom India Research’s latest report, Q2 2021 India Solar Market Update, the cumulative installed solar capacity was around 44 GW at the end of Q2 2021. To meet the country’s 300 GW solar energy target for 2030, Mercom notes India needs to install 28 GW of solar a year until 2030. Amitesh Sinha, joint secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently stated that total renewable energy capacity could be as much as 450 GW – meaning solar would represent two-thirds of that mix.
To that end, Bloomberg reports that India’s Reliance Industries, owner of the world’s biggest refining complex…
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