ACWA Power opens its first global innovation center outside Saudi Arabia in China

ACWA Power recently announced the official opening of its first global innovation center outside the Kingdom, in the Pudong New Area of ​​Shanghai Municipality in eastern China.

The Shanghai Municipal Publicity Department said that the innovation center is equipped with advanced research and experimental equipment, and will focus on five main areas: photovoltaic energy, wind energy, energy storage, green hydrogen, and seawater desalination, with the aim of promoting the research and development of innovative solutions and their application in the field of renewable energy.

The investment in the first phase of the center amounted to 20 million yuan (about 2.76 million dollars), and it currently includes a “R&D Center” and a “Green Energy Laboratory.”

In the future, the center will work to build an ecosystem that brings together government agencies, state-owned enterprises, startups, equipment manufacturers, universities, research institutes, and testing and certification bodies, in order to support innovative development that covers the entire project life cycle, from research and development to actual application.

During the opening ceremony of the center, ACWA Power signed two memoranda of understanding with the Gulf Renewable Energy Laboratory and Shanghai Jiaotong University, which will provide human and technical support to the innovation center, in addition to strengthening incubators for innovative projects and finding effective solutions to common challenges in the renewable energy sector.