Saudi Arabia opens bidding on 3,200 megawatts of solar, wind

Key Points

1. Saudi Power Procurement Company opened qualification for three solar and wind projects totaling 3,200 megawatts.
2. The round covers Tamir, Sharq Al-Amwah and Al-Muzayria, spread across Riyadh, Asir and Makkah regions.
3. It advances a target of roughly 50% renewables and storage in the power mix by 2030.

The latest:

Three new renewable projects with a combined capacity of 3,200 megawatts were put up for developer qualification by the Saudi Power Procurement Company, known as the Principal Buyer, under the National Renewable Energy Program. The eighth round is supervised by the Ministry of Energy and spans two photovoltaic plants and one wind farm in three separate regions of the Kingdom.

Details:

• The projects: The round includes the Tamir photovoltaic project in the Riyadh region at 900 megawatts, the Sharq Al-Amwah photovoltaic project in the Asir region at 1,000 megawatts, and the Al-Muzayria wind project in the Makkah region at 1,300 megawatts, according to the company’s announcement.
• The scale: At 3,200 megawatts combined, wind accounts for the single largest share of the round through Al-Muzayria alone, at 1,300 megawatts, while the two solar plants together contribute 1,900 megawatts. The company did not disclose the investment value of the three projects.
• The buyer’s role: The Saudi Power Procurement Company said it is the entity responsible for preparing preliminary studies, tendering electricity generation projects, and signing power purchase agreements and energy storage services agreements with developer consortiums bidding for the schemes.
• The 2030 target: The company said the tender serves the National Renewable Energy Program’s objective of reaching an optimal generation mix in which renewable sources and energy storage systems account for close to 50% of the power mix by 2030.
• Displacing liquid fuel: Among the stated aims of the program is displacing liquid fuel from electricity generation and making use of renewable resources available across the Kingdom’s different regions, according to the announcement. Saudi Arabia has historically burned crude and fuel oil to meet peak power demand.
• The supervising body: The Ministry of Energy leads and supervises the National Renewable Energy Program under which the eighth round falls, with the Principal Buyer executing the tendering and contracting side.
• Geographic spread: The three sites sit in three different administrative regions — Riyadh in the center, Asir in the southwest and Makkah in the west — extending the program’s footprint rather than concentrating new capacity in a single area.
• Open to bidders: Interested parties were invited to review further information on the program’s projects through the company’s website. No closing date for the qualification window or a timeline for awarding the contracts was announced.

Background:

The National Renewable Energy Program is the Kingdom’s main vehicle for tendering utility-scale solar and wind capacity, with the Saudi Power Procurement Company acting as the single offtaker signing long-term power purchase agreements with winning developer consortiums.

Between the lines:

The composition of the round is itself a signal: wind carries 1,300 of the 3,200 megawatts, a larger single allocation than either solar project, pointing to a mix that no longer leans almost entirely on photovoltaics. The inclusion of energy storage services agreements in the Principal Buyer’s mandate also reflects the 2030 target, which counts storage alongside renewables in the 50% figure rather than treating it separately.

What’s next

Watch for the close of the qualification window, the list of prequalified developer consortiums, and the eventual tariffs set in the power purchase agreements, which have served as the clearest benchmark of project economics in previous rounds.