Arabia – Acwa Power, a leader in power generation and water desalination plants, has announced that its 700MW AlRass1 Solar Photovoltaic Project located in the Qassim province of Saudi Arabia has entered into commercial operations.
The project was developed through Ar Rass Solar Energy Company, a special-purpose vehicle established by Acwa Power (with a 40.1% stake) to finance the engineering, procurement, commissioning, and operation of the plant facility.
The Acwa consortium partners include the State Power Investment Corporation of China with a 39.9% stake and the Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), a wholly-owned PIF Portfolio Company with 20% share in the company.
Earlier, the Acwa Power consortium had entered into a 25-year power purchase deal with the project’s sole off-taker Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), said Acwa Power in its filing to Saudi bourse Tadawul.
With the project coming online, it will produce energy to power around 132,000 homes in central Saudi Arabia. Announcing the commercial operations launch, Acwa Power said this comes following it obtaining the commercial operation certificate from the sole off-taker of the project – SPPC – for the full 700 MW plant.
In 2022, ACWA Power signed a power purchase agreement to develop the project in Al Qassim province, stating that once fully operational, the plant would generate enough energy to power around 132,000 homes in central Saudi Arabia. The project underscores the Kingdom’s increasing role in the global renewable energy sector as it aims to generate 130 gigawatts of green power by 2030.
