RIYADH: Saudi power generation firm ACWA Power has signed an agreement for a new giga-scale green hydrogen project to expand its Indonesian portfolio.  

The Public Investment Fund-backed company has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the chemical manufacturing firm Pupuk Indonesia for the development of the project, according to a statement. 

The state-owned Pupuk Indonesia is the largest off-taker of ammonia in the region. 

The MoU was signed by PI President and Group CEO Bakir Pasaman and ACWA Power Executive Vice President and Global Head of Green Hydrogen Andrea Lovato. 

It was signed in the presence of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprise of Indonesia Pahala Mansury as well as Indonesian petroleum firm Pertamina CEO Nicke Widyawati, among other representatives. 

This comes after ACWA Power announced last November that it will work with Indonesia’s state-owned electricity provider to develop battery storage for renewable energy facilities and green hydrogen development in the Asian country.  

The firm signed an MoU with PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara — known as PLN — at the B20/G20 Summit in Bali that coincided with the state visit of the Kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to Indonesia.  

According to the terms of the MoU, ACWA Power and PLN will jointly investigate several avenues of partnership, including a project study for pump storage for a 600-800MW hydroelectricity facility; investigating the possibility of a 4GW battery energy storage system and the development of a green hydrogen/ammonia facility that is powered by hydroelectricity.  

During the same time, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, ACWA Power and Indonesian energy firm Pertamina New & Renewable Energy signed a joint development agreement on core utilities supplies to Tuban Grass Root Refinery and Petrochemical Project in Java, eastern Indonesia. 

This came as Indonesia’s National General Energy Plan stated that 23 percent of the country’s power should be generated via renewable energy sources by 2025.   

ACWA Power, which also develops renewable energy and water desalination projects, wants to ensure the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the private sector. Its aim is to make available electricity and desalinated water in a reliable and responsible manner to support the social development and economic growth of nations.