PPAs signed for $3bn trio of solar farms in Saudi Arabia

Three new solar projects with a combined value of $3.25 billion are to be built in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi energy company ACWA Power and electricity and water company Badeel have signed power purchase agreements with the Saudi Power Procurement Company to develop the three projects.

Badeel is a wholly-owned company of the Public Investment Fund, and will jointly own with ACWA Power the three projects, which will have a total capacity of 4.55GWac.

The Ar Rass 2, Saad 2 and Al Kahfah projects have a capacity of approximately 2,000MWac, 1,125MWac and 1,425MWac respectively, and will be able to power approximately 750,000 households.

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Mohammed AlBalaihed, head of Energy & Utilities at Public Investment Fund (PIF), said in a statement: "The three new solar projects are part of PIF’s commitment to develop 70% of Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy by 2030, in line with the National Renewable Energy Program.

"Renewable energy is one of PIF’s priority sectors, with a focus on unlocking the capabilities of promising sectors and enabling the private sector to enhance Saudi Arabia’s efforts in diversifying the economy."

The new solar plants will increase the amount of renewable energy being fed into the grid, supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 clean energy goals.

According to ACWA Power, the Ministry of Energy aims to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix to around 50% by 2030, with the remainder of the energy mix being supplied through high efficiency gas-fueled power plants.

Together with its partners, PIF is currently developing a total of five projects in Saudi Arabia with a total capacity of 8GW.

ACWA Power's portfolio of solar projects in Saudi Arabia now stands at 11, with over 12GW of combined PV capacity.