Saudi Arabia receives bids for $500 mln wind farm

Saudi Arabia has received bids for its 400 MW Dumat Al-Jandal wind project, the Kingdom's first utility-scale wind farm, the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources said in a statement on Monday.

Four prequalified bids were submitted for the $500 million project by pre-qualified consortiums led by international and regional renewable energy developers ACWA Power, EDF Energies Nouvelles, Enel Green Power, and International Power, Dubai branch (ENGIE).

France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar placed the lowest bid of just under eight halalas per kilowatt hour, while the second lowest was submitted by a consortium comprising International Power and Saudi Services for Electro Mechanic Works.

A consortium of Riyadh-based ACWA Power and Portugal’s Martifer Renewables placed a bid of just over 10 halalas per kilowatt hour, while Italy’s Enel Green Power and local firm Al Babtain Contracting bid slightly over 12 halalas, the statement said.

Four bids have been received for the Dumat Al Jandal 400MW Wind Project. Results announced today do not represent bidder ranking or RFP compliance, nor do they constitute bidding process outcome #NREP #RenewableEnergy pic.twitter.com/EKudiHc9GH

— Saudi NREP (@SaudiNREP) July 23, 2018

The Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) will evaluate the bids to verify compliance with the project's requirements, with the winning bid to be announced on Dec. 18, it added.

The project will be backed by a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Saudi Power Procurement Company.

“The Kingdom’s first utility-scale wind project opens a new chapter in our journey towards a diversified energy mix. The development of a wind energy industry in Saudi Arabia is an important component of our wider industrial diversification strategy," said Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources.

"The $500 million Dumat Al Jandal wind farm in the northern Al Jouf region will generate enough power to supply up to 70,000 Saudi households as it connects to the Northern electricity grid.” he noted.

The average annual generation from the wind plant is expected to be around 1.4 TWh.

National Renewable Energy Program aims to increase the renewable energy share of the Kingdom's total energy resources to 3.45 GW by 2020 and 9.5 GW by 2023. The investment in the projects is expected to reach SAR 60 billion.