Date: May 2023
Borrower: Neom Green Hydrogen Company
Shareholders: Acwa Power, Air Products, Neom
Size: $6.1 billion
Structure: Istisna-ijara; murabaha
Tenor: Long dated
Banks: Multiple
For such a historically carbon intensive region, the Middle East is increasingly transforming into a leader in alternative energy production, and especially in some advanced technologies that are expected to play critical roles in the world’s efforts to decarbonize.
One such technology is green hydrogen production, which essentially produces clean, sustainable hydrogen fuel from renewable energy sources.
Of several Gulf Cooperation Council countries investing in the technology, Saudi Arabia stands out for developing the world’s first industrial-scale green hydrogen plant.
Neom Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) – a joint venture between Saudi energy group Acwa Power, US gas and chemicals company Air Products and Neom, a futuristic urban development being built by the Saudi government – is the sponsor of the $8.4 billion plant, which when completed will have enough capacity to export 1.2 million tonnes of green ammonia a year.
Green ammonia is a gas and compound of hydrogen produced using renewable energy.