CSP World

The Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company (TAQNIA) has acquired a 50% stake in SUN & LIFE, the subsidiary of ACWA focused on the solar business.

TAQNIA is a development and investment company owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It promotes technology and knowledge transfer in Saudi Arabia through partnering with leaders in industry, venture capital, and academia to add maximum strategic value to the Kingdom while maintaining attractive returns on investment.

SUN & LIFE, was established in 2009 as the solar subsidiary branch of the ACWA Holding, a regional infrastructural developer especially in the power and water sectors. The company reached a milestone in the CSP sector when it acquired German CSP company FLABEG, the world's leader mirror supplier for Concentrated Solar Power plants.

The company currently plans, engineers, realizes and operates large-scale photovoltaic plants. Its latest achievement is the largest PV plant of Saudi Arabia for Saudi Aramco, with a power capacity of 10.5MW, allowing powering the equivalent of 6,000 residential homes.

This strategic acquisition includes the rebranding of SUN & LIFE into TAQNIA SOLAR, and is gathering combined talented Teams, grasping along a solid technology and market expertise.

The newly formed company will focus to Saudi Arabia local market as well as other regional markets with fundamental needs for solar applications, with a continuous aim to provide an economically viable alternative to local energy sources.

TAQNIA SOLAR implementation should efficiently respond to the Saudi Energy diversification Plan proposed by KACARE, addressing 41 GW of Solar projects of which 25 GW will be CSP, by 2030, with an estimated project value over 350 Billion Saudi Rials (roughly 100 billion USD)