The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) has launched a request for qualifications for 5.3GW of new renewable power capacity, of which solar will account for 3.1GW.
As part of the request for qualifications, the SPPC will consider vendors, contractors and suppliers to deliver the five solar projects that have already been approved for deployment under programme: two at the Tarbajal portfolio, with a combined capacity of 1.4GW; the 600MW Mawqaq project; the 600MW Tathleeth project; and the 500MW South Al Ula project.
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The SPPC will also consider applicants to deliver two wind projects, the 1.3GW Blighah wind project and the 900MW Shagran wind project. It aims to reach decisions on successful applicants by 29 September this year.
The requests come under the seventh round of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP). The NREP has already seen power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed for over 38GW of renewable energy capacity, as it looks to increase the contribution of renewable energy to the country’s energy mix from 0.5% in 2022 to over 30% by the end of the decade.
The fifth round of the NREP saw bids made for 3.6GW of new solar capacity, and SPPC has been active in advancing other solar power projects in the state, signing power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 12GW of solar capacity as recently as July.
Saudi Arabia has also seen a number of advancements in its upstream solar sector, as component and module manufacturers look to relocate capacity to the Middle East following a tightening of the antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) in the US. This year, US tracker manufacturer GameChange Solar and Chinese manufacturer TrinaTracker have advanced manufacturing plants in Saudi Arabia.
