Al Ghazala Energy Company, the Saudi Arabia-based subsidiary of Jinko Power Technology, a global independent solar power producer, has achieved financial close and commenced construction of its 300 MW Saad Solar Project in the Kingdom.

The project, situated near Saad in Saudi Arabia, is part of the third round of competitive tenders in Category B under the Kingdom’s National Renewable Energy Program. It is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2024.

A 25-year power purchase agreement for the project was signed in March 2022 with Saudi Power Procurement Company.

“The closing of the Saad Project underpins our commitment towards Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. This adds very well to our track record in the region with the world’s largest single-site solar plant under operation− 1.2 GW Sweihan Project in Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest single-site plant under construction− 2.1 GW Dhafra Project in Abu Dhabi,” said, Mothana Qteishat, Senior Managing Director of Jinko Power.

Elsewedy Electric for Transmission and Distribution of Energy, the engineering and construction subsidiary of the Egyptian multinational company Elsewedy Electric, has been chosen as the project’s engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor.

The full-wrap EPC contract includes designing, supplying, building, providing warranty, initial operation, and maintaining the project.

A group of three prominent regional banks have come together to provide long-term, non-recourse financing for the project company Ghazala. The project’s financing is comprised of Islamic and structured senior tranches.

As of September 2022, the company has acquired and integrated approximately 3.3 GW of solar projects in China and an additional 3.6 GW of solar projects that have been developed, built, and are currently in operation outside China.

According to the Kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics, Saudi Arabia plans to generate 15.1 TWh of renewable energy annually by 2024, sufficient to meet the power requirements of 692,557 households.

Jinko Solar was the leading module supplier to the Indian solar market in the first half of the calendar year 2022, according to Mercom’s recently released India Solar Market Leaderboard 1H 2022.