A consortium consisting of Japanese Toyota Tsusho, French TotalEnergies Renewables, and Saudi Altaaqa Renewable Energy (a Zahid Group company) has completed financing for the development of a 119 MW solar PV power plant to be located in Wadi Ad-Dawasir.
Japanese Toyota Tsusho, with French TotalEnergies Renewables and Saudi Altaaqa Renewable Energy (a Zahid Group company), has secured a $100 million fund for the project. It is also going to be the first renewable project in Saudi Arabia for Toyota Tsusho.
The 119 MW power generating capacity plant is anticipated to commence operations in March 2025. The project will be established as an independent power producer (IPP), focused on the sale of electricity. The Wadi Ad-Dawasir solar project will be spearheaded by a joint venture company named Noor Alwadi Renewable Energy Company, with ownership distributed among the three prominent companies. Toyota Tsusho and TotalEnergies will hold a 40 per cent share each and Altaaqa will retain a 20 per cent stake in the venture.
Saudi Arabia’s Renewable Push
The Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), a wholly-owned company of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and ACWA Power announced a month ago the signing of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) for the development, and operation of three major new solar PV Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects in Saudi Arabia. The combined value of the three projects is 12.2 billion Saudi riyals ($3.25 billion). The projects are part of the National Renewable Energy Program, which is supervised by the Ministry of Energy. It aims to develop 70 per cent of the renewable energy target capacity in Saudi Arabia by 2030.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has launched five projects to produce electricity using renewable energy, with a total capacity of 3,300 megawatts.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has set a target to generate 50 per cent of its total energy from renewable sources by 2030. Saudi Arabia is also targeting to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 through more than 60 projects under the Saudi Green Initiative launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in October in 2021. It aims to reduce carbon emissions by more than 278 mtpa by 2030, and plant 10 billion trees across the Kingdom.
