ACWA Power Finishes Construction on Saudi Arabia's Landmark $8.4B Green Hydrogen Plant

The 2.2 gigawatt Neom green hydrogen and ammonia project in Saudi Arabia has completed construction, according to co-developer Acwa Power. The plant is now being commissioned ahead of a planned start of operations in 2027.

Neom Green Hydrogen Company, the venture behind the plant, is an equal partnership between Acwa Power, US industrial gas supplier Air Products, and Neom, the futuristic Saudi megacity project backed by the Public Investment Fund. The complex sits at Oxagon, Neom's industrial port on the Red Sea coast.

The project reached financial close in May 2023 at a total investment value of $8.4 billion. That figure included a $6.1 billion non-recourse loan arranged with 23 local, regional and international banks and financial institutions.

Once fully operational, the facility is designed to run entirely on renewable power. It draws on a combined 4 gigawatts of generation capacity, split between 2.2 gigawatts of solar panels and 1.6 gigawatts of wind turbines across the Neom site.

The plant is expected to produce up to 600 tonnes of hydrogen a day. Rather than shipping hydrogen directly, the facility converts it into green ammonia, a denser and more stable carrier that is easier to transport over long distances by sea.

Air Products holds an exclusive 30-year off-take agreement covering all the ammonia produced at the site, acting as both engineering contractor and buyer. Total exports are projected at up to 1.2 million tonnes of ammonia a year once the plant reaches full production.

The hydrogen complex has advanced even as Neom's wider giga-project has gone through a broader reassessment, with some elements of its flagship developments scaled back or delayed in recent years. The hydrogen and ammonia plant has continued to move toward completion on a separate track.

Saudi Arabia has positioned the venture as part of its Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy and its ambition to become a major global supplier of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia. The project was first awarded to the Neom, Acwa Power and Air Products consortium in 2020.

With construction now complete, attention shifts to commissioning the electrolysers, storage vessels and export infrastructure needed before commercial operations begin. That process is expected to run through the remainder of this year and into 2027.

Buyers for the plant's ammonia output have not all been finalised. Earlier this year, Acwa Power indicated it was in advanced talks with Norway's Yara International over a deal to market and distribute ammonia volumes not used by Air Products in Europe.