On June 17, 2023, CEEC Party Secretary and Chairman Song Hailiang held talks with ACWA Power Chairman Mohamed Abunayan in Riyadh. The two sides conducted in-depth exchanges on continuously strengthening cooperation in various fields in the global market and witnessed the signing of photovoltaic projects in Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan.

Song Hailiang expressed gratitude to Abu Nayang for his warm reception. He said that at present, China and Saudi Arabia are fully implementing the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries on the joint construction of the the Belt and Road initiative and the 2030 vision, and the two countries have closer cooperation in infrastructure, production capacity, energy, trade and investment, finance, people to people and cultural exchanges and other fields. In recent years, CEEC and ACWA Power have collaborated closely on multiple projects, involving fields such as photovoltaic, wind power, energy storage, and seawater desalination.

Song Hailiang stated that CEEC will continue to leverage its full industry chain integration advantages in planning consulting, evaluation and evaluation, survey and design, engineering construction and management, operation and maintenance, and investment and operation. It will focus on the construction of clean energy, comprehensive energy storage, gas turbine power plants, power grid planning, hydrogen production, and other fields, and deepen practical cooperation between the two sides in Saudi Arabia and even global third-party markets through specialized work teams. It is hoped that the two sides will adhere to the concept of win-win development, form a more effective communication and consultation mechanism from the three dimensions of high-level, middle level and grassroots, and work together to promote high-quality joint construction of the the Belt and Road from going out, going in, and then integrating, so as to achieve full integration.

Abu Nayang welcomed Song Hailiang and his delegation. He said that ACWA Power regards CEEC as an important strategic partner, and the two sides have accumulated rich experience and established a deep friendship through close cooperation with many projects, such as the Saudi Alshubach 2.6GW photovoltaic power plant project, the Umgavan desalination project in the United Arab Emirates, the Syr Darya gas power plant project in Uzbekistan, and the Bukhara wind power project in Uzbekistan. We hope that both sides can further explore opportunities for cooperation in multiple fields in the global market, innovate business cooperation models, create greater value, achieve win-win development, and continue to contribute to promoting practical cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China.

The signed photovoltaic project in Tashkent Region is an important part of the package of optical storage IPP projects in Government of Uzbekistan developed by ACWA Power and the Uzbek government through negotiation. The project is located in the northeast of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and will greatly improve Uzbekistan's green power supply capacity and new energy development level after completion.Editor/Ma Xue