A consortium of France’s EDF Renewables and China’s SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development Co. (HHDC) has successfully bid for two solar projects in the fifth renewable energy tender in Saudi Arabia. The partners have signed two 25-year power purchase agreements with Saudi Power Procurement Co. for the energy.
A consortium of EDF renewable energy sources and China’s HHDC will develop, finance, build and operate 1.4 GW of solar capacity at two project sites in Saudi Arabia.
The partners submitted a successful bid to develop the 1 GW Al Masa’a solar project, which will be built in Hail Province, Saudi Arabia. They will also build the 400 MW Al Henakiyah 2 solar power plant, which will be built in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia.
The two projects are part of the fifth round of the Saudi Arabian government’s renewable energy procurement program, managed by Saudi Power Procurement Co., a government agency charged with purchasing electricity from independent power producers.
The nominated bids were revealed in October, the EDF-SPIC consortium submitted a bid of $0.0131/kWh for the Al Masa’a project and $0.0140/kWh for the Al Henakiyah 2 project.
The consortium has signed two 25-year power purchase agreements for the energy from both projects, with Saudi Power Procurement acting as off-taker.
The projects, estimated to cost $850 million, are expected to power more than 240,000 homes per year once operational. The Al Masa’a solar power plant is expected to become operational in the second quarter of 2027, while the Al Henakiyah 2 solar power plant is expected to reach financial close in early 2025, before being connected to the grid in the fourth quarter of 2026 .
Under the terms of the agreement, at least 21% of equipment, materials and services will be supplied by Saudi companies during the construction phase.
Beatrice Buffon, vice president of EDF Group’s international division and chairman and CEO of EDF Renewables, said the projects will expand the company’s renewable energy capacity in Saudi Arabia to 3.5 GW.
Saudi Arabia has set a target of increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the country’s energy mix to around 50% by 2030.
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