The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will soon tender over 3 GW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) and 800 MW of wind projects to meet its increasing energy demands.

The development is in line with the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), a strategic initiative under the kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP) that aims to substantially increase the share of renewable energy capacity in the total energy mix within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 9.5 GW by the year 2023.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry for Energy has announced that it will tender approximately 4 GW of renewable energy projects worth a collective $7 billion in 2018. The Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) will tender 3.25 GW of solar projects and around 800 MW of wind.

According to REPDO, eight renewable energy projects will be developed. The first round of bidding will take place in the first quarter of 2018 and include 250 MW of solar projects. A second round will be held later in the year for 3 GW of solar and 800 MW of wind projects.

Mercom previously reported, “In the next six years, Saudi Arabia intends to produce 10 percent of its power from renewable sources of energy.” The drive towards renewable energy is likely to see the development of 30 solar and wind projects by 2023 to boost electricity generation and reduce the burning of crude oil.

In 2017, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had issued its first-ever solar tender to develop 300 MW of grid-connected soar PV projects; ACWA Power and Marubeni Corporation with consortium members Khaled Ahmed Juffali Energy & Utilities Limited and Axia Power Holdings BV have been selected to develop these projects.