Trials successful on Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm; connected to electricity grid

Dumat Al Jandal, the Middle East’s largest wind farm and the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia, has produced its first carbon-free megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy.

Located around 900 kilometers north of Riyadh in the Al-Jouf region, the 400-megawatt (MW) utility-scale wind power project is now connected to the country’s electricity transmission grid and is being developed by a consortium led by EDF Renewables and Masdar.

The wind farm consists of 99 wind turbines, from supplier and EPC contractor Vestas, each with a hub height of 130 meters and a rotor diameter of 150 meters, capable of producing 4.2 MW of power per turbine.

Construction on the facility began in September 2019, and the process of erecting the wind turbines are nearly completed.

في تطبيق عملي لأحد أهداف #رؤية_السعودية_2030؛ بدء التشغيل التجريبي لأول توربينة في مشروع دومة الجندل بمنطقة الجوف لاستغلال طاقة الرياح في إنتاج الكهرباء، وهو المشروع الأول من نوعه الذي يأتي في إطار العمل على إنتاج 50٪ من الكهرباء في المملكة من مصادر متجددة بحلول 2030. pic.twitter.com/MrFvMudk4j

— رؤية السعودية 2030 (@SaudiVision2030) August 3, 2021

When complete, the wind farm will supply energy to power up to 70,000 Saudi homes, saving 988,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The wind farm is also creating more than 600 local jobs during the construction phase.

The Dumat Al Jandal wind farm will supply electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Saudi Power Procurement Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), the Saudi power generation and distribution company.

“We are delighted to start the early power production of this unique large-scale wind project in KSA – Dumat Al Jandal wind farm. The outstanding commitment shown by our teams and contractors with the implementation of the highest health and safety standards and the full support provided by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Energy, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPCC) and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) have contributed to the successful execution of the project during this extremely challenging pandemic period. We are now looking forward to successfully reaching, with our partners and contractors, the full commissioning of the project in the months to come,” said Olivier Marchand, project director of Dumat Al Jandal Wind Co for Energy.

Osama Al Othman, country representative, Saudi Arabia, Masdar, added, ” The successful connection of the project to the electricity transmission grid marks an important milestone for this landmark project in the kingdom and we look forward to project’s completion in the near future.”

Local media have reported that the facility’s tariff of $21.3 per megawatt-hour (MWh) was reduced to $19.9/MWh at financial close, reportedly making Dumat Al Jandal the most cost-efficient wind-energy project in the world.