A consortium of Masdar, EDF Renewables and Nesma Company has reached financial close and started construction on a 300MW solar farm in Saudi Arabia.
The plant, located near Jeddah, secured the project from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy after submitting the most cost-competitive bid of $16.24 a megawatt-hour, EDF said.
The consortium signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Saudi Power Procurement Company in January.
Under the terms of the PPA, the consortium design, finance, build and operate the plant, which will be located in Third Jeddah Industrial City, 50km south-east of Jeddah.
The plant will begin operations in 2022.
Masdar chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said: “This project demonstrates Masdar’s continuing support for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives and its climate goals.
“Through its National Renewable Energy Program, Saudi Arabia is fast developing into a global renewable energy player, and Masdar will continue to work with the Saudi government on driving its clean energy transition, including helping to reach its renewables capacity target of 27.3GW by 2024.”
EDF Group senior executive vice-president renewable energies Bruno Bensasson said: “We would like to thank the Saudi Arabia’s authorities for the official award of the 300MW-Jeddah project last week.
“We are delighted to pursue our commitment to contribute to the energy transition of the country with this new solar plant project alongside our partners Masdar and Nesma.
“After the 400MW Dumat al Jandal wind power farm currently under construction in the north of the Kingdom, this solar project highlights our strong commitment to contribute to Saudi Arabia’s goal to produce 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
“It clearly demonstrates our ability to jointly provide highly competitive bids.
“These large-scale renewables installations are perfectly in line with the EDF Group’s CAP 2030 strategy, which aims at doubling its renewable energy net capacity in operation worldwide, between 2015 and 2030, from 28 to 60GW net.”
Nesma president Faisal Al Turki said: “Masdar, EDF Renewables and Nesma will continue to innovate and optimize solar power projects; the Jeddah project is an excellent example of how the consortium is leveraging international, regional and local expertise to great effect.”