ACWA Power wins KSA’s first utility scale renewable energy project

ACWA Power, a leading Saudi company specializing in developing, constructing and operating power generation and desalination water plants, has won the Skaka IPP PV solar project, the first utility scale renewable energy plant in Saudi Arabia.

This plant is the first of what will be a series of procurement within the ambitious Saudi national renewables program aiming to produce 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2023 in the first phase. The 25-year power purchase contract was awarded to ACWA Power at a new world-record tariff of 8.781 halala/kWh (2.3417 cents/kWh).

Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan, chairman of ACWA Power, said: “We are proud to have set yet another world-record tariff for PV power, now at home and are humbled to be entrusted with the first utility scale renewable energy plant to be developed in the Kingdom, which will be the foundation of the visionary ambitious national program that seeks to maximize the utilization of renewable energy sources, as defined by the National Transformation Program 2020 and the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030.”

“This new project allows ACWA Power to bring to the Kingdom our considerable expertise and capabilities to ensure the delivery of this first renewable energy project at the highest global standards of quality and efficiency,” Abunayyan added.

Paddy Padmanathan, president and CEO of ACWA Power, said: “We are very excited to have won this project. Such a rigorous transparent process at a new world-record tariff will set the foundation for a robust and competitive market for renewable energy in the Kingdom, thus enabling Saudi Arabia to take advantage of all intrinsic valuable ingredients available to become a global hub for research, development, manufacture and investment in the rapidly transforming energy sector.”