Saudi Arabia awards 1 GW solar power projects

Saudi Arabia awarded solar power projects with a total capacity of 1 Gigawatts on March 7, as the world's largest oil exporter looks to diversify its domestic power mix away from hydrocarbons.

The Saudi Power Procurement Company signed 25-year power purchase agreements for a 700 megawatt plant with Ar Rass Solar Energy Company, which is owned by a consortium led by Acwa Power. SPIC and WEHC are other members of the consortium led by Saudi Arabia's utility developer.

The solar project, which will be built in the central Al Qassim region of the country, is estimated to cost $450 million.

The state-backed procurement company signed the second agreement for a 300 megawatt solar plant that was awarded to a consortium led by Chinese company Jinko Power's regional subsidiaries. The project will be in built in the Saad region in Riyadh at a cost of $213 million.

Saudi Arabia plans to add renewable energy projects with a total capacity of around 15 GW in 2022 and 2023, according to the country's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

The kingdom plans to switch away from oil-fired power generation and increase the share of gas and renewables in its power mix to 50% by 2030, offsetting around 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Arr Rass and Saad solar power projects are expected to meet the requirements of around 180,000 homes, helping offset over 1.75 million mt of carbon dioxide annually.

Both schemes are being built on the basis of an independent power producer model.