Altaaqa Renewables, a subsidiary of Saudi organisation the Zahid Group, has closed financing for its 119MWp Wadi ad-Dawasir plant, which will be built in Saudi Arabia.
The company will build, own and operate the PV plant alongside joint venture partners TotalEnergies, the French energy major, and the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, a member of the Japanese Toyota Group. The project received approval from the Saudi Power Procurement Company, and will be built in the country’s Central Region.
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“With sustainability being at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and with the kingdom aiming to reach net zero by 2060, the country is experiencing an incredibly rapid and dynamic energy transition,” said Majid T Zahid, president of energy at the Zahid Group.
“We are delighted to have achieved financial close on this exciting utility-scale renewable energy project and look forward to building the project in the months to come,” added Zahid. “[The project is] a significant step in cementing our commitment towards the kingdom’s Vision 2030 and its sustainability targets.”
Projects such as this will be important as Saudi Arabia looks to decarbonise its energy mix, which is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. In 2022, oil contributed 1,986TWh to the country’s energy mix, while natural gas provided 1,203.58TWh, compared to just 2.17TWh from solar projects. However, the role of solar power in Saudi Arabia has increased steadily in recent years, with solar providing 0.12TWh of power in 2013, significantly lower than its current contribution.
Altaaqa noted that Saudi Arabia plans to add more than 4.5GWp of capacity through new renewable energy projects “in advanced stages,” and is aiming to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources by the end of the decade.
While neither Altaaqa nor the Zahid Group announced a timeframe for construction of the project, solar facilities across the country will have to come online quickly if the country is to meet its 2030 targets.
The news follows Spanish tracker company PV Hardware’s supply of 2.9GW of solar trackers to the Oxagon green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia, as both domestic and foreign actors look to invest in the growing Saudi Arabian solar sector.