Saudi Arabia asks firms to qualify for groundbreaking wind power project

Saudi Arabia has asked companies to qualify to bid for its first utility-scale wind power project at Dumat al-Jandal in the north of the kingdom, which will have an annual capacity of 400 megawatts, the energy ministry said on Sunday.

Requests to qualify for the project will close on August 10, and proposals will be received from August 29. Bidding closes in January next year, the ministry’s Renewable Energy Project Development Office said.

Dumat al-Jandal and a 300 MW solar PV plant at Sakaka, bids for which are due to close in September, are part of the first round of Saudi Arabia’s massive renewable energy plan. Sunday’s statement said the winning bid for Sakaka would be announced in November.

Winning bidders will build and operate the power plants in partnership with the government; the Dumat al-Jandal project will be backed by a 20-year power purchase agreement and Sakaka, by a 25-year agreement.

Saudi Arabia has said it aims to generate 9.5 gigawatts of electricity from renewable energy annually by 2023.