ACWA Power inaugurates kingdom’s first renewable energy project

Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power has announced the inauguration of the 300 MW Sakaka PV IPP, the kingdom’s first utility scale renewable energy project, at an investment value of SAR1.2bn.

The project was awarded to an ACWA Power led consortium at a tariff, at the time, of 8.781 halalas/kWh in 2018, which has paved the way for subsequent projects of the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) to lower the cost of clean solar electricity in the kingdom. The plant also exemplifies the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in enabling socio-economic progress, having achieved nearly 100 per cent job localisation.

The Sakaka project will also prompt local Saudi companies to participate in the implementation of renewable energy projects and support Saudi talent.

Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Minister of Energy, said: “The private sector plays a fundamental role in the development of renewable energy projects in the kingdom. The Sakaka project we are inaugurating today was developed by ACWA Power, together with various Saudi companies that have worked alongside ACWA Power to make this remarkable achievement a reality.

“Consequently, the Public Investment Fund currently has 50 per cent ownership of ACWA Power. One of its most important projects is Sakaka PV, 97 per cent of the operating team are Saudis, and 90 per cent of the workforce is from Al Jouf region.”

“I am delighted to partake in the phenomenal achievement of inaugurating the first renewable energy plant in the kingdom, which affirms ACWA Power’s role as a leading Saudi national company that has been at the forefront of the energy transition – not only in the kingdom, but also in a growing number of international key markets,” noted Mohammad Abunayyan, chairman of ACWA Power.

Al Gihaz Holding, a major Saudi contractor and investor, owns a 30 per cent stake in the Sakaka Solar Energy Company (SSEC), alongside ACWA Power’s 70 per cent stake, and was key in both the investment, engineering, procurement and construction of the project.

In December of last year, Azerbaijan signed agreements with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power for the construction of a 240-megawatt wind park.

Read: Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power to build wind park in Azerbaijan