In line with the country’s National Renewable Energy Program, the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia has issued the request for qualification (RfQ) for four solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 1,200 MW.

The projects fall under the Kingdom’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP). The round three projects have been divided into two categories:

Category A will target smaller companies which include Layla (80 MW) and Wadi Al Dawaser with 120 MW of solar projects

Category B will have Saad with 300 MW and Ar Rass with 700 MW of projects

The last date for the submission of bids is February 6, 2020. The ministry plans to issue Request for Proposal (RfP) on March 19, 2020.

For projects under Category B, the bidder should have experience of developing a minimum capacity of 500 MW in the last 15 years globally. Besides this, the developer should have an experience of fifteen years as a developer for a minimum capacity of 200 MW of solar projects.

Further, the interested bidder should have a net worth of ~$100 million and an experience in developing a limited or non-recourse financing package for projects in the last ten years.

For projects under Category A, the applicant should have the experience as a developer for 15 years and should have developed projects of a minimum of 300 MW, which is in operation globally. Besides this, the interested bidder should have had the experience of developing 100 MW of solar projects. The bidder should have a minimum net worth of $50 million.

According to the tender document, the RfP for Round 3 Category A and B projects will require the managing member to hold at least 30% of the shares in the project company.

Regarding the technical eligibility criteria, interested bidders should have the necessary technical experience in the design, procurement, construction, and operation of solar PV projects.

For a bidder to submit a bid at the RfP stage, the applicants must form a consortium that contains a suitably prequalified local managing member, managing member, and a technical member.

Last year, the kingdom floated a tender for seven greenfield solar PV projects with a combined potential capacity of 1.5 GW.

Then in January 2018, Mercom reported that Saudi Arabia planned to tender over 3 GW of grid-connected solar projects and 800 MW of wind projects to meet its increasing energy demands.

 

Image credit: Phoenix Solar AG [CC BY-SA]