RIYADH: Sustainable energy provision in Saudi Arabia is set to grow after French energy giant TotalEnergies achieved financial closure for its first solar power plant in the Kingdom.
According to a press statement, the 119 megawatts solar plant will be developed by a consortium of TotalEnergies, Japan’s Toyota Tsusho and Saudi Arabia’s Altaaqa Renewable Energy.
The group secured a power purchase agreement for the project with Riyadh-based Saudi Power Procurement Co. in an auction held between 2021 and 2022.
The consortium will finance, own and operate the photovoltaic power plant.
Chinese infrastructure company SEPCO will build the plant by early 2025 in Wadi Al-Dawasir, about 500 km southwest of Riyadh, the press statement added.
“This project is another example of our successful multi-energy strategy, where our long presence in Saudi Arabia is enabling us to actively participate in the country’s energy transition to renewables energies in line with Vision 2030 and hence developing local champions as well,” said Ahmed Tarzi, country chair of TotalEnergies Saudi Arabia.
Under the goals outlined in Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to increase domestic generation capacity from renewable energy to 50 percent by the end of this decade as part of the Kingdom’s goal to become a net zero emitter by 2060.
Last May, SPPC signed a power purchase agreement with the Public Investment Fund-owned Badeel and ACWA Power for three new solar energy projects.
These three independent power projects will be built for SR12.2 billion ($3.25 billion) and produce a combined capacity of 4.55 gigawatts, powering approximately 750,000 households.
In March, a report released by S&P Global Ratings suggested that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading the region’s fight against climate change by producing 90 percent of the Gulf’s renewable energy.
According to the research, installed solar capacity in the two countries rose from 165 MW in 2016 to 3 GW by the end of 2021.
Saudi Arabia is also building one of the world’s biggest green hydrogen facilities, which will be powered by over 4 GW of solar and wind energy and operational by 2025. The NEOM project’s plant will create 650 tons of green hydrogen daily.
The Kingdom is also building more significant wind farms at Yanbu, Wa’ad Al-Shamal and Al-Ghat.
