The facilities, with a capacity of 2.6 GW, will be operational in the year 2025
Saudi Arabia has announced the approval of the construction plans for two photovoltaic solar installations, in which the kingdom will invest more than 2,370 million dollars, according to www.atalayar.com
The plants, called Al Shuaibah PV 1 and Al Shuaibah PV 2, will be located in the province of Mecca and will have a generating capacity of 600 megawatts for the first and 2,031 gigawatts for the second. A power that will supply energy to more than 45,000 Saudi homes.
The development of the projects will be carried out by the energy company Acwa Power; the Water and Electricity Holding Company or Badeel (owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund); and the Saudi Aramco Power Company.
Ownership of the plants will be divided among these three companies: Badeel will hold 34.99%; Acwa, 35.01%; and Aramco, the remaining 30%. The facilities are expected to enter the commercial phase in 2025.
In the words of the CEO of Acwa Power, Marco Arcelli, «securing the financing of this pioneering project is an important step towards the achievement of Saudi Arabia’s clean energy objectives, in line with the National Renewable Energy Program, which aims to generate 50% of electricity from renewable sources by the year 2030”.
Arabia, carbon free by 2060
The largest economy in the Arab world is promoting the development of various renewable energy projects to increase its clean energy generation capacity and get closer to meeting the goal of carbon neutrality by 2060.
In addition to the Al Shuaibah PV 1 and Al Shuaibah PV 2 projects, the Saudi Public Investment Fund is executing, through its subsidiary Badeel and with the collaboration of the company Acwa Power, another five renewable energy projects, with a capacity accumulated power of 8 gigawatts and a planned investment of more than 6,000 million dollars.
These projects (Sudair, Al Shuaibah 2, Ar Rass 2, Al Kahfah and Saad 2) will be especially linked to the local private sector and will be committed to procuring equipment, supplies and services through local supply chains.
As Mohammed Al Qahtani, Aramco’s president of downstream, pointed out, “While oil and gas will play a critical role in meeting current and future energy demand, renewables will play an increasingly important role in the energy transition to address to the challenges of climate change. The projects mark an important milestone in supporting Aramco in achieving its decarbonization goals.”
Financing
To finance the projects, the Saudi National Development Fund has granted a loan of 450 million dollars in Saudi riyals, and a financing line of 1,180 million dollars, through a consortium of local, regional and international banks.
Among the banks that make up this consortium are Bank Saudi Fransi, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho Bank, Riyad Bank, Saudi National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Saudi Investment Bank.
The forecasts of the International Energy Agency suggest that global investment in renewable energy will have to double to over 4 trillion dollars by the end of the current decade, in order to meet the goals of zero net emissions in 2050.
