Saudi Gazette report

SAKAKA — The Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO), under the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, invited on Monday bids to qualify for seven greenfield solar photovoltaic projects with direct investments worth $1.51 billion.

Implementation of these projects is expected to create employment for more than 4,500 Saudis and power supply to 226,500 households.

The combined generation capacity of these plants amount to 1.51 gigawatts (GW).

According to an REPDO statement, Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for the seven plants, launched in January, had a tremendous response from as many as 256 companies, including 100 Saudi companies.

Meanwhile, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih visited on Monday the Sakaka solar power project. “We are delighted with the level of interest our new renewable energy projects have received and we are proud of the tremendous response from Saudi companies,” he said.

Al-Falih also met Prince Faisal Bin Nawaf, emir of Al-Jouf, and briefed him on the salient features of the seven greenfield solar PV projects.

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious renewable energy plans seek to achieve over 25GW of wind and solar power generation in the next five years, and close to 60GW over the next decade; of which 40GW will be generated from solar energy, with a further 16GW of onshore wind.