A consortium of EDF Renewables and China's HHDC is set to develop, finance, build and operate 1.4 GW of solar capacity at two project sites in Saudi Arabia.
The partners submitted a successful bid to develop the 1 GW Al Masa’a solar project, to be built in Hail province, Saudi Arabia. They will also construct the 400 MW Al Henakiyah 2 solar plant, to be built in Madinah province, Saudi Arabia.
The two projects are part of the fifth round of the Saudi Arabian government’s renewable energy tender program, administered by Saudi Power Procurement Co., a government-owned entity tasked with procuring electricity from independent power producers.
The shortlisted bids were revealed in October, with the EDF-SPIC consortium submitting a bid of $0.0131/kWh for the Al Masa’a project and $0.0140/kWh for the Al Henakiyah 2 project.
The consortium has signed two 25-year power purchase agreements for the energy from both projects, with Saudi Power Procurement acting as the offtaker.
The projects, estimated to cost $850 million, are expected to power more than 240,000 homes per year once operational. The Al Masa’a solar power plant is expected to go operation in the second quarter of 2027, while the Al Henakiyah 2 solar plant is expected to reach financial close in early 2025, before connecting to the grid in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Under the terms of the agreement, at least 21% of the equipment, materials and services will be supplied by Saudi companies during the construction phase.
Beatrice Buffon, EDF Group vice-president, international division, and chairwoman and CEO of EDF Renewables, said the projects will expand the company’s renewables capacity in Saudi Arabia to 3.5 GW.
Saudi Arabia has set a target of increasing the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix to around 50% by 2030.
