Assystem to conduct assessments for 20GW solar projects in NEOM

International project management services company Assystem has been appointed by ENOWA (NEOM) to conduct a suite of pre-development studies for seven planned solar photovoltaic parks in the Tabuk and Duba regions.

Neom is a planned smart city in Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The site is north of the Red Sea, east of Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba and south of Jordan. The total planned area of Neom is 26,500 km².

The solar parks will contribute to NEOM’s vision to become the world’s most advanced renewable energy hub.

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Assystem will deploy its teams to provide a range of services, which include a site assessment study, preliminary design of parks and master planning, environmental baseline surveys, an environmental and social impact assessment study, and permitting studies.

Within this scope, various studies such as geotechnical, geophysical, topographical, hydrological, glint and glare, and corrosion assessments, energy yield calculations, and advanced design of the parks will be conducted.

The sites earmarked to host the solar parks stretch over 420km², potentially amounting to more than 20GW (accounting for around 65% of land use) in energy generating capacity.

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Solar PV is set to account for the largest share of generation capacity of any power source by 2027 according to the International Energy Agency.

Kerem Sadiklar, Assystem’s Global head of Siting and Environmental Services, said: “This project marks one of the first steps towards realising the deployment of solar PV on a truly massive scale – directly contributing to NEOM’s ambitious 100% renewable energy goal. Assystem is proud to be delivering its high-quality siting and environmental services on behalf of such an exciting and significant initiative.”