Additionally, ACWA will also acquire the Barka 456 MW combined cycle gas power plant and other associated technical service companies from AES.

The acquisition will enable ACWA to penetrate the global markets and expand overseas.

“This now gives us the first asset outside Saudi Arabia, we want to become global,” commented ACWA’s chief executive Paddy Padmanathan.

Barka employs approximately 50 people and provide power and desalinated water to the Omani Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWPC) under a 15-year power and water purchase agreement that will end in 2018.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the first half of 2010.