In line with the country’s National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP), Saudi Arabia’s Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO), has invited expressions of interest for seven greenfield solar PV projects with a combined potential capacity of 1.5 GW.

The scope of work includes the design, development, engineering, financing, procurement, construction, commissioning, testing, completion, ownership, insurance, and operation and maintenance of the projects.

This is the second round of renewable energy projects that are being allocated in Saudi Arabia under the NREP. Expressions of interest have been invited for the development of the following projects:

The above projects are expected to be tendered out on a standalone or grouped basis. For each tender, REPDO will conduct a competitive process to select a developer or developer consortium to develop the project.

The Kingdom’s Renewable Energy Project Development Office expects the implementation of these projects to create employment for 5,000 people in the country and supply power to more than 220,000 households.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources has assigned REPDO the responsibility to achieve the targeted installed capacity of 40 GW of solar PV by 2030 with an interim target of 20 GW by 2024. In the past, REPDO has successfully awarded the two first greenfield renewable energy projects in the Kingdom, these are – the 300 MW Sakaka Solar PV IPP and the 400 MW Dumat Al Jandal Wind IPP.

In February 2018, Mercom reported on the news of ACWA Power developing the 300 MW Sakaka Solar Project.

In January 2018, Mercom reported that the Kingdom of 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: IFC