Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – with over $500 billion in assets one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds – has selected PwC as its lead financial consultant for six renewable energy projects.
The Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has as its mission to enable the economic development and diversification of the Saudi economy, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
Working towards this mission, the PIF currently owns or has stakes in 47 companies, ranging from giga construction projects such as Neom and The Red Sea Development Company, sector initiatives such as Cruise Saudi to new ventures including the recent launch of gaming and esports company Savvy Gaming Group.
One of the key pillars of the PIF is to support (and accelerate) the energy transition, as Saudi Arabia seeks to lower its dependence on oil and embrace wind and solar energy, among others.
By 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to achieve 58.7GW of renewable energy capacity, with the PIF tasked with overseeing the development of 70% of that (ambitious) target. The Kingdom’s Ministry of Energy oversees the development of the remaining 30% of the total through a competitive tendering programme.
The contract with PwC sees the global consulting firm provide financial and transaction expertise to six renewable energy projects, which includes a 900MW PV solar plant at Shuaiba. All six projects will be developed under the PIF’s clean energy programme and will be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.
The buyer team of the Public Investment Fund selected PwC following a competitive tender process. Reports from outlet Energy & Utilities suggest that several “major international financial consulting firms” pitched for the prestigious role – why PwC came out on top has not been disclosed.
PwC is one of the leading advisors in the energy transactions advisory space, and in the Middle East its team has advised on the setup and financial closing of several landmark deals in (green) energy. Meanwhile, further East, PwC recently won the financial advisor mandate for the world’s largest solar energy infrastructure project (connecting Australia with Singapore).
Across its vast portfolio, Saudi’s Public Investment Fund works with over a dozen consulting firms, including the major brands such as the MBB (McKinsey, BCG and Bain) and the Big Four (Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC).
Sourced from Consultancy.me