Renewable energy project bids to be invited in April

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia will invite international and domestic companies to bid for renewable energy projects in April, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih said on Wednesday, adding that he expected to award the deals in September. Falih, speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, said the projects would include two new solar and wind power plants with a capacity to produce 700 megawatts of power. The projects are part of a major renewable energy supply program which is expected to involve investments of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023. Last month Falih said at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi that the Kingdom plans to generate close to 10 gigawatts from renewables, primarily solar and wind power by 2023. Saudi Arabia plans by 2030 to produce 70 percent of its power from natural gas and 30 percent from renewables and other sources, the minister said in Abu Dhabi. Building more solar plants and developing a nuclear-power industry is part of a broader plan that Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, announced last April to diversify the economy away from crude sales as the main source of government income. Saudi Arabia is also “really moving” to develop nuclear power and intends to build two reactors with a combined capacity of 2.8 gigawatts, Falih said. The country is currently in the front-end engineering and design stage of its nuclear plants, he said. The country’s only solar plant in operation, aside from a smaller pilot project, is a 10-megawatt facility on top of a parking lot at Saudi Aramco’s headquarters. The national utility, Saudi Electricity Co., is seeking bids for two plants to generate a combined 100 megawatts.