Saudi Arabia to tender 2.22 GW of solar in 2019 and wants 40 GW in 2030

The Saudi Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) is preparing to tender 2,225 MW of solar capacity in 2019, according to information provided to pv magazine by Turki Mohammed Al Shehri, the organisation’s chief.

Some 11 solar projects are set to be tendered this year, the largest of them the Alfaisalia project, with a capacity of 600 MW. REPDO is intending to tender another four projects with an installed capacity of 300 MW each named Rabigh, Jeddah, Alras and Saad.

And the tendering plan for 2019 includes a further six projects: Qurrayat – with a 200 MW capacity; another with the same name but 40 MW; Wadi Adwawser (70 MW); Madinah (50 MW); Rafha (45 MW); and Mahad Dahab (20 MW).

As anticipated by pv magazine a week ago, the new tendering scheme for 2019 – which is intended to include part of the 3.3 GW of solar projects REPDO failed to tender last year – was to be announced after new targets for solar and renewables were set. Those new targets have also been announced.

According to the new Saudi renewable energy strategy, the solar target for 2023 has been raised from 5.9 GW to 20 GW, with the aim for renewables revised up from 9.5 GW to 27.3 GW. REDPO has also set a 40 GW target for solar and a 58.7 GW target for renewables overall by 2030.

Through its first series of tenders for solar and wind, finalized last year, REPDO allocated 700 MW of renewable energy generation capacity, comprised of 400 MW of wind and 300 MW solar – the latter consisting of the Sakaka PV project. Awarded in February to Saudi energy company ACWA, the project recently attracted $320 million in financing from French financial services provider Natixis.