Acwa Power Appoints New CEO
Acwa's board of directors has named Dr. Samir J. Serhan as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Serhan, who previously served as President of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for the company, is a former COO of U.S.-based Air Products. He replaces Marco Arcelli, who will remain as an advisor.
The new CEO, Dr. Samir J. Serhan, brings over three decades of experience in the global industrial and infrastructure sectors. Before joining Acwa Power in 2025, he was the Chief Operating Officer at the U.S. industrial gases giant Air Products, where he held global responsibility for the company's operational and project execution. Dr. Serhan's background includes leadership roles at Praxair as President of Global HyCO and 14 years at The Linde Group, where he was the managing director of Linde Engineering. His expertise aligns with Acwa Power's growing focus on green hydrogen, a sector where the company is a first mover and is developing the world's largest green hydrogen plant in a joint venture with Air Products and Neom. The leadership change comes as Acwa Power aims to triple its assets under management to over $250 billion by 2030. The company is a central player in Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, a national strategy to diversify the economy away from oil, with a target of generating 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by the decade's end. Marco Arcelli, who became CEO in March 2023, has a long history in the energy sector, including a 16-year tenure at Italian energy company Enel where he served as CEO of North America, among other senior positions. During his time as CEO, Acwa Power signed numerous agreements, including for 20GW of new power capacity in the first half of 2025. Acwa Power's portfolio includes 111 projects in operation or under construction, with an investment value of $114.8 billion. The company has the capacity to generate 93 GW of power, with 52 GW from renewable sources, and manage 9.3 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day.
