• Event will feature Innovation Challenge offering young innovators the chance to bring their ideas to life

ACWA Power, the world’s largest private water desalination company, leader in energy transition and first mover into green hydrogen, and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia’s foremost education and research institution, will host the second edition of the Innovation Days event from January 23-25, 2024.

This year’s event will feature ACWA Power’s Innovation Challenge – a campaign to encourage Saudi youth to share their innovative ideas in renewables, water desalination, green hydrogen and energy storage. Winning ideas will be selected by industry experts, and will be developed with the support of ACWA Power. The company will help to bring these ideas to life by finding real-world applications and offering patent opportunities.

Marco Arcelli, ACWA Power CEO, said: “ACWA Power has a proven track record of innovating to both drive down costs and further accelerate the transition to renewable energy. By gathering the best minds – industry experts and academics – we are able to broaden our horizons and find answers to the most pressing issues facing our world today: fighting climate change, ensuring a reliable supply of water and energy, and improving the lives of the communities that we serve.”

“Through our partnership with KAUST, we have established a strong collaboration that has yielded positive results through an active research centre. Moving forward, we aim to stimulate discussions during our future Innovation Days, inspiring industry stakeholders to work together in developing practical solutions for a sustainable future”, he added.

Dr.Tony Chan, President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology said: “At KAUST, we take great pride in being a global leader in scientific research and technological innovation. Our alliance with ACWA Power enhances this mission, bringing together brilliant minds and cutting-edge resources to pioneer revolutionary solutions in water and energy.”

“At KAUST, we take great pride in being a global leader in scientific research and technological innovation. Our alliance with ACWA Power enhances this mission, bringing together brilliant minds and cutting-edge resources to pioneer revolutionary solutions in water and energy.”

ACWA Power enjoys a close alliance with KAUST. The institutions have jointly operated the KAUST-ACWA Power Centre of Excellence for Desalination and Solar Power, a research and development (R&D) hub, since 2019.

Both parties collaborate by accelerating green technologies through innovation and integrating applications for renewable energy and green hydrogen.

Innovation Days is a platform that hosts leading business executives, innovators, researchers and academics from Saudi Arabia and across the world to showcase their expertise in solar energy, green hydrogen, artificial intelligence (AI) and seawater desalination.

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About ACWA Power

ACWA Power (TADAWUL:2082) is a Saudi-listed company and the world’s largest private water desalination company, the first mover into green hydrogen, and a leader in energy transition. Registered and established in 2004 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ACWA Power employs over 4,000 people and is currently present in 12 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. ACWA Power’s portfolio comprises 77 projects in operation, advanced development, or construction with an investment value of SAR 310.5 billion (USD 82.8 billion), and the capacity to generate 53.69 GW of power and manage 7.64 million m3/day of desalinated water per day, delivered on a bulk basis to address the needs of state utilities and industries on long term, off-taker contracts under utility services outsourcing and Public-Private-Partnership models. Learn more: www.acwapower.com