Ministry of Energy awards 1,000-MW Al-Rass, Saad contracts

Signing the agreement

The Ministry of Energy said in a statement that Saudi Energy Procurement Co. (the principal buyer) signed two power purchase agreements with the two winning consortiums, the first for the Al-Rass solar photovoltaic project in the Qassim region, with the Al-Rass Solar Energy Co., which is owned by the consortium of Water and Energy Works International (ACWA Power), SPIC, and Water and Electricity Holding Company (WEHC).

The production capacity of the project is 700 megawatts, with a total investment of nearly SAR 1.7 billion. The cost of purchasing electricity is 5.62 halalas/kWh.
  
The second agreement is for Saad solar photovoltaic project, which is located in Saad in the Ramaah Governorate in Riyadh region, with Al-Ghazala Energy Co., which is owned by a consortium of Jinko Power Hong Kong Ltd, Jinko Power Middle East Holding, and Jinko Power Dhafra Holding Co. The investment volume in the project is about SAR 800 million, with a production capacity is 300 MW, while the electricity purchase cost is 5.56 halalas per kilowatt hour.
  

The Minister of Energy said that the energy system aims to launch projects to produce approximately 15,000 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy, during the years 2022 and 2023, in the context of seeking to achieve the targeted energy within the optimal energy mix used to produce electricity.
 

Both projects will contribute to securing the energy needs of more than 180,000 homes, in addition to reducing 1.75 million tons annually of carbon emissions. The Ministry of Energy offers all renewable energy projects according to the Independent Production System (IPP), as these projects are supported by 25-year agreements with Saudi Energy Procurement Co.