Saudi Arabia Scouting For RE Project Locations

• Saudi Arabia is undertaking a geographic survey to identify suitable sites for new renewable energy projects
• It will survey more than 850,000 sq. km. land for the purpose, barring populated areas, sand dunes and those with airspace restrictions
• This is aimed at making renewable energy projects financeable and bring down their waiting period to obtain this data
• Additionally, it has signed PPAs for a combined 5.5 GW solar PV capacity with a consortium led by ACWA Power

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Energy has launched a geographic survey to scout for renewable energy sites in the kingdom calling it the 1^st country to conduct a survey of this kind on such a scale. It will entail surveying more than 850,000 sq. km. land, barring populated areas, sand dunes and those with airspace restrictions.

The country's Energy Minister Prince AbdulAziz bin Salman bin AbdulAziz Al Saud said this area is equivalent to the combined land area of countries like the UK and France, or Germany and Spain.

The data compiled will eliminate the current waiting period of 18 months to 24 months to obtain data. It will be helpful to make the projects financeable while expediting project announcement and execution, and reducing risks related to the implementation of renewable energy projects.

According to the Energy Minister, this exercise is to follow the kingdom's plans to tender 20 GW of new renewable energy projects annually, starting from 2024 as it targets to reach between 100 GW and 130 GW cumulative capacity by 2030.

It will also primarily contribute to achieving the optimal energy mix targets for electricity production, with renewable energy sources comprising about 50% of the energy mix by 2030, and to achieving the goals of the Liquid Fuel Displacement Program by reducing dependence on liquid fuel in electricity generation.

As part of the survey, 1,200 stations will be set up to measure solar and wind energy across the nation. Equipped with latest technologies, these will survey the designated areas to identify suitable sites for renewable energy projects.

Subsequently, the project's stations will be moved to these sites and installed there to continuously provide all required data for implementing renewable energy projects with high accuracy.

For solar energy, these stations will record Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI), Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DHI), dust and pollutant deposition rates, ground-reflected radiation (albedo), ambient temperature, rainfall levels, relative humidity, and atmospheric pressure.

PPAs signed for 5.5 GW solar capacity

Meanwhile, the ministry also announced signing of power purchase agreements (PPA) for 5.5 GW solar PV capacity between a consortium led by ACWA Power and Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC). These relate to the following:

• 2 GW Haden Solar PV Project in Makkah province with a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of 58762 cent/kWh (5.95356 Halala/kWh)
• 2 GW Al-Muwaih Solar PV Project, also in Makkah Province with an LCOE of 1.60852 cent/kWh (6.03194 Halala/kWh), and
• 5 GW Al-Khushaybi PV Project in Qassim provincewith an LCOE of 1.67289 cent/kWh (6.27334 Halala/kWh).

Other members of the consortium along with ACWA Power include the Water & Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Aramco Power, a Saudi Aramco subsidiary.

These projects will be developed as part of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP). Under the program, the ministry counts 21 projects with a combined 19 GW capacity to have been awarded to date. Of these, 7 projects with a total 4.1 GW are now connected to the grid, 8 projects with 8.2 GW capacity are under construction, and remaining 6 projects with 7 GW aggregate capacity are in the financial close stage.

It has also tendered 6 new renewable energy projects within 2024, representing another 6.7 GW.