A consortium led by ACWA Power has developed a 300 MW Sakaka solar power plant in Saudi Arabia. Total investment for the project is estimated to be around $320 million, equivalent to about 1.2 billion Saudi Riyals.
In 2018, the project was awarded to the ACWA Power-led consortium. ACWA Power has a share of 70 per cent in the Sakaka Solar Energy Company (SSEC), while the remaining 30 per cent belongs to the contractor and investor Al Gihaz Holding. The Renewable Energy Projects Development Office (REPDO) had awarded ACWA Power the contract at a record-breaking tariff at that time, which was $0.0234 per kWh. This project the first of a series of project under the Saudi national renewable energy programme which aims to produce 9.5GW of renewable energy by 2023.
Saudi Arabia has also announced that agreements have been signed for seven new solar power projects across the country. The seven new solar projects will be located in Madinah, Sudair, Qurayyat, Shuaiba, Jeddah, Rabigh and Rafha. They will be financed by five investment alliances made up of 12 Saudi and international companies.
The seven planned solar plants, in addition to the Sakaka solar and Dumat Al-Jandal wind power projects, would produce more than 3,600 MW. They would power more than 600,000 homes, and reduce more than 7 million tons of greenhouse emissions. Further, during the past weeks, the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative have been announced to work towards combatting climate change.
REGlobal’s Views: During the past few weeks, Saudi Arabia has launched the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative, increasing their efforts to promote renewables in the Kingdom. The completion of the newly announced projects will contribute to strengthening the Kingdom’s capabilities in producing electricity to meet the national need and support its ambitious plans to become one of the main countries in the field of producing and exporting electricity using renewable energy.