1.5 GW Solar IPP Tender In Saudi Arabia

• REPDO is seeking proposals from interested bidders to develop 7 greenfield solar power projects in Saudi Arabia
• All of this capacity of 1,515 MW should create employment for around 5,000 locals and supply solar power to over 220,000 households
• Interested bidders will submit their proposals latest by February 14, 2019
• All winning projects will be developed under a dedicated SPV that will sign a power purchase agreement with the Saudi Power Procurement Company

The Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) under the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources (MEIM), is seeking expressions of interest (EoI) from interested bidders for the development of 1,515 MW of PV capacity. It will be developed as 7 greenfield PV independent power producer (IPP) projects.

This is the second round of the Saudi National Renewable Program (NREP), under which it has already awarded 300 MW PV capacity. Development of the capacity in the second round is planned to generate employment for around 5,000 locals and supply clean energy to more than 220,000 households.

Scope of work for interested companies comprises development, design, permitting, engineering, financing, procurement, construction, commissioning, testing, completion, ownership, insurance, operation and maintenance of all 7 projects. The agency says this capacity may be tendered on a standalone basis or grouped. REPDO ha provided the following details about the 7 projects:

1. Madinah Solar PV IPP with a capacity of 50 MW to be located in the Al Madinah Province, approximately 26 km from Madinah city

2. Rafha Solar PV IPP with a capacity of 45 MW to be located in the Northern Borders province, approximately 16 km away from Rafha city

3. Qurayyat Solar PV IPP with a capacity of 200 MW to be located in the Al Jawf Province, approximately 15 km away from Qurayyat city

4. Al Faisaliah Solar PV IPP with a capacity of 600 MW to be located in the Makkah Province, approximately 80 km south of Jeddah city

5. Rabigh Solar PV IPP with a capacity of 300 MW to be located in the Makkah Province, approximately 145 km north of Jeddah city

6. Jeddah Solar PV IPP with a capacity of 300 MW to be located in the Makkah Province and approximately 50 km south-east of Jeddah city

7. Mahd AlDahab Solar PV IPP with a capacity of 20 MW to be located in the Al Madinah Province, approximately 150 km southeast of Madinah.

Each of these projects will need to be developed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Saudi Power Procurement Company.

REPDO will be accepting proposals from interested bidders till February 14, 2019. More information about the tender is available on the website of REPDO.

The first solar PV project tender was launched by the agency in February 2017 offering 300 MW to be built. REPDO rejected the lowest bid of 0.0668 halala ($0.0179) per kWh it received for the Sakaka Solar Project from a consortium of Masdar and EDF. Instead, the a consortium of ACWA Power and Marubeni won the tender with a significantly higher winning tariff of 0.0878 halala ($0.0234) per kWh (see ACWA Power Wins 300 MW Saudi PV Tender).

Under its Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is aiming for 40 GW of PV capacity by 2030, with an interim target of 20 GW by 2024. While solar experts expected the Saudi market kick start, nothing happened until the tender of Sakaka project. With the 1.5 GW tender it looks like the Saudis are starting to become serious about solar.