The consortiums of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, Masdar as well as of China’s Jinko Power have been shortlisted for the development of 1,500MW solar PV projects in the Saudi Arabia. This was announced by the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), recently.
According to SPPC,the fourth round (R4) of solar projects being implemented under the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) – which include 1,100MW Al Henakiyah and 400MW Tabrajal. The project are being implemented on a build, own and operate (BOO) model.
The firm said that the work on the project will begin by next year and it is expected to enter into commercial operation by 2026. As per the firm, the consortium of Masdar along with its partners French group EDF Renouvelables and Saudi-based Nesma Company had submitted their bids for both Al Henakiyah and Tabrajal projects along with the consortium of Jinko Power with partners Sun Glare Holding and Sunlight Energy Holding.
In December last year, SPPC issued request for proposals (RFP) for R4 projects and in response three bids were received for each project in June. “Bids were later evaluated to ensure compliance with the RFP’s technical and commercial requirements,” said the firm.
For the floating solar project Al Henakiyah (1100MW), the Masdar consortium had submitted bids with a levelised cost of electricity – 6.31575 Hals/kWh (1.68420 cents/kWh); while the Jinko consortium’s offer was for 6.31575 Hals/kWh ( 1.68420 Cents/kWh). For the Tabarjal (400MW) Solar PV Project, the Jinko consortium had submitted bids with a levelized cost of electricity – 6.40482 Hals/kWh ( 1.70795 Cents/kWh) and Masdar consortium’s offer was 7.25967 Hals/kWh (1.93591 Cents/kWh).
As per the contract, each project will be developed on a build, own, and operate (BOO) basis by the winning consortium and will be fully owned by the group. SPPC is responsible for the predevelopment, tendering, and subsequent offtake Energy from the projects under Ministry of Energy Supervision.
As part of the deal, the winning consortium will enter into a 25-year power purchase agreement with SPPC. According to SPCC, these projects will attract investments worth more than SAR4 billion ($1.06 billion) and will cater to 265,000 residential units annually.
Till now, the company has awarded over 11 GW of renewable energy capacity under NREP, it added.
