Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) has received four offers in its tender to establish the first utility-scale wind farm at a value of $500 million.
The bids were submitted by EDF Energies Nouvelles, ACWA Power, Enel Green Power S.p.A, and International Power SA’s Dubai branch (ENGIE).
Located in the northern Al Jouf region, the wind farm named Dumat Al Jandal is set to generate enough power to supply around 70,000 Saudi homes and generate average annual capacity of 1.4 terawatt hours (TWh).
Dumat Al Jandal is Saudi Arabia’s first utility-scale wind project and “opens a new chapter in our journey towards a diversified energy mix,” stated minister of energy, industry, and mineral resources Khalid Al Falih.
He added that the development of the kingdom’s wind energy industry “is an important component of our wider industrial diversification strategy.”
After evaluating the offers, REPDO and is expected to announce the final award on 18 December, according to Arabian Business.
The deal will be backed by a 20-year power-buying contract with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC).
Dumat Al Jandal farm is the second project to be launched by Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources.
The new wind farm comes as part of the kingdom’s plans to bolster its industrial diversification strategy as well as to diversify the country’s power resources and reduce dependence on oil as a part of the National Transformation Programme and the Saudi Vision 2030.
