Saudi Gazette report

TAIF – A major solar energy plant will be established in the techno valley of this summer resort as part of the SR11 billion New Taif project. The King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) has started building 600 bases for the plant.

The energy project includes establishment of solar panels on the bases and construction of management and security offices. A seven-member consortium of international companies has been selected to design the Technology Oasis Project.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman launched the New Taif project about four months ago. The project includes the new Taif airport, Souq Okaz, technology oasis, residential suburb, industrial city and a new university campus.

The New Taif will be located northeast of the city of Taif, spreading on an area of about 1,250 sq. km.

The technology oasis will cover an area 35 million sq. meters. It will have a plant for manufacturing and assembling Antonov aircraft and a factory to produce solar panels.

The oasis will have another project to produce electricity. It will have a power generating plant using solar energy with the production capacity of one megawatt daily. Another project in the oasis is designed to produce fodders.

Located northeast of Taif, southeast of Souk Okaz City and north of Mount Hala, the new Taif airport will be built at a cost of SR3.137 billion and cover 48 million sq. meters.

A consortium of Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), Aviation Security in Airport Development (Asiad), and Flughafen München GmbH, the operator of Munich Airport, has been appointed to develop and operate the new Taif airport.

The new airport will be ready by 2020. The National Water Company has been entrusted with the task of supplying water to the new airport. Government departments have been instructed to remove all obstacles facing the airport project.

The Souk Okaz City, another component of the New Taif project, will attract 260,000 tourists annually. It will generate 4,400 new jobs. The city will have 1,250 hotel rooms and 130 housing units.

The residential neighborhood in the new city will have 10,000 housing units, an 11 million sq. meter industrial city, a 16.344 million sq. meter university city.

The Ministry of Housing said the $160 million residential district would accommodate 70,000 people. Housing units will be split between villas, apartments and townhouses.

The ministry has already started the project’s first phase, which covers an area of three million sq. meters. An agreement has been signed to implement the second and third phases with Abr Contracting Company.

The new industrial city in Taif will be located 55 km away from the city and will have light, medium and heavy industries. It will have a total area of 11 million sq. meters and a sum of SR120 million has been allocated to develop infrastructure facilities. The city will have a training center.

Work on the new university campus has already started, covering an area of 17 million sq. meters. Seven stalled projects in the campus would be handed over to new contractors.