ACWA Power, a developer, investor and operator of power generation, water desalination and green hydrogen plants, announced executive changes at the C-suite level.
Rajit Nanda, the company’s Chief Portfolio Management Officer, is stepping down from his role in January 2022, to pursue other interests.
Kashif Rana, ACWA Power’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who has held this position for over eight years and steered the company through its successful public listing, will take over the portfolio management role, while remaining the CFO, Rana will be assisted by Nanda for a few months in an advisory capacity to help with the transition.
Simultaneously, the CFO office will be strengthened by Abdulhameed Muhaidib, currently the Executive Managing Officer of Noor Energy in the UAE.
Muhaidib will transition over the next three months to a newly created position of Deputy CFO, and formally commence this position on 1 March 2022. He is an experienced leader with over 13-years of experience within ACWA Power, including corporate finance as well as business positions and is currently managing one of the most technically complex and largest projects that the company has undertaken in its history.
Additionally, ACWA Power has also brought on board Clive Turton as Chief Investment Officer. Turton joined ACWA Power from Vestas, where he served as President for the Asia- Pacific (APAC) region.
During his tenure, he oversaw operations of 3,500 employees and grew Vestas’ operations in markets like India, Vietnam, Australia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Japan.
Commenting on the leadership changes, Paddy Padmanathan, President and CEO of ACWA Power said: “As a company, we have always believed in investing in exceptional people and seek talent who share our vision and passion to succeed.
“Rajit is certainly such a person who has played a pivotal role in driving ACWA Power’s growth and success during his tenure, initially as CFO, then as CIO and finally as CPMO. We wish him the very best for the future. I am also delighted to welcome Clive and Abdulhameed into the executive management fold.”
He added: “Both bring a wealth of experience spanning various disciplines to further strengthen the extraordinarily ambitious, talented and capable senior leadership team, who in turn lead the ACWA Power family comprised of over 3500 committed, passionate, entrepreneurial and enthusiastic professionals.
“I look forward to working with them as we execute our strategy of leading energy transition globally with both renewable energy and green hydrogen and deliver desalinated water to an increasingly thirsty world.”