Saudi Power Procurement Co. (SPPC) has concluded the sixth phase of the country’s National Renewable Energy Program with the award of four solar projects and one wind farm. This includes the 1.4 GW solar power plant in Najran, which has the second lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar energy to date.
SPPC has awarded contracts for four new solar energy projects in Saudi Arabia with a combined capacity of 3 GW.
The project awards are under the sixth phase of the country’s National Renewable Energy Program, which is supervised by the Saudi Ministry of Energy. The tender procedure started with a tender September 2024.
The sixth round of projects includes the 1.4 GW Najran solar project in the Najran region of southern Saudi Arabia.
It will be developed by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) with an LCOE of $0.0110/kWh, representing the second lowest LCOE solar generation globally to date. The record is currently held by the Shuaiba 1 solar project, a 600 MW site in Saudi Arabia, which was awarded in a tender 2021.
Masdar also won the 600 MW Ad Darb Solar PV IPP plant, in Jazan province in southeastern Saudi Arabia, with an LCOE of $0.0136/kWh.
The newly signed project also includes the 600 MW Samtah Solar PV IPP plant in Jazan province, awarded to a consortium of SPPC and EDF Power Solutions International at an LCOE of $0.0149/kWh.
Meanwhile, a consortium consisting of TotalEnergies and Al Jomaih Energy & Water Company has been selected to develop the 400 MW Sufun Solar PV IPP Plant, located in Hail Province in north-central Saudi Arabia, with an LCOE of $0.0151/kWh.
SPPC also signed an agreement for a 1.5 GW wind project in addition to the four solar sites. According to data on the company’s website, 43.2 GW of renewable energy projects have been signed in the six rounds of the Saudi renewable energy program, of which 12.3 GW has already been connected to the grid. By the end of 2025, the total capacity offered is expected to reach 64 GW.
In September, SPPC announced a qualification request for 3.1 GW of solar capacity across four projects in the seventh round of the country’s renewable energy procurement program.
According to figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Saudi Arabia’s operational solar capacity reached 4.2 GW at the end of 2024.
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