A&O Shearman advises on AMAALA’s off-grid renewable energy system

The financing of the utilities for the ground-breaking AMAALA tourism destination on the Red Sea in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was underpinned by legal advice from A&O Shearman to the lender group comprised of the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Emirates NBD, Riyad Bank, Saudi National Bank (SNB) and Alinma Bank.

This unique project is powered by renewable energy which will help drive sustainable economic development for the Kingdom.

The completely decarbonised and off-grid renewable energy system for AMAALA has the capacity to generate up to 410,000 MWh per annum which is enough to power 10,000 households for an entire year. The system includes a 700 MWh battery storage facility. The project will save 350,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.

There will also be a water desalination plant that uses reverse osmosis technology – highly concentrated sea water forced through a membrane to create salt-free water – which has a capacity of 37 million liters per day.

The contract was procured and financed as an independent public-private partnership (PPP), covering the design, construction and operation of the systems providing utilities, accompanied by the associated networks and infrastructure.

A&O Shearman partner Lachlan Poustie, who led on the project, said, “This is an exciting and innovative project for us to have worked on, not least because it’s founded upon a commitment to using renewables on a substantial off-grid scale.”

The A&O Shearman team that advised the lenders included members from our global Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure (ENRI) team: partner Lachlan Poustie, senior associates Liu Wang and Kate Buchanan and associate Shao Wei Tan; plus in Riyadh, partner Dr. Sultan Almasoud, Peerpoint consultant Sanjarbek Abdukhalilov and associate Aseel Alkathiry.