The Office for Renewable Energy Project Development, affiliated with the Ministry of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, announced the opening of bid envelopes for the 400-megawatt Dumat al-Jandal project in the Al-Jawf region, It is the Kingdom’s first wind power project and the second tender issued by the Ministry as part of the National Renewable Energy Program.
The project is part of efforts to diversify energy sources and achieve a sustainable increase in the share of renewable energy in the Kingdom’s total energy mix, and implements the strategic initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud —may God protect him—for renewable energy, under the umbrella of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program.
On this occasion, His Excellency the Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, Engineer Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, said: ” “The first wind power project marks a new chapter in the diversification of the domestic energy mix and is a key component of the strategy to develop industries related to the renewable energy sector,” noting that the project’s cost is estimated at approximately 2 billion riyals, and will contribute to generating electricity to power approximately 70,000 homes in the Al-Jawf region by connecting the project to the national power grid located in the northern part of the Kingdom.
The Office for Renewable Energy Project Development emphasized that the announced results of the bid opening do not represent any ranking of the bidders, nor do they represent an assessment of any bidder’s compliance with the requirements set forth in the project’s Request for Proposals, nor do they indicate any intention on the part of the Office regarding the results of the project award, The Office will begin evaluating the bids to verify their compliance with the requirements and conditions of the Request for Proposals documents, and the project will then be awarded on 11 Rabi’ al-Thani 1440 AH, corresponding to December 18, 2018.
This tender is being conducted in accordance with the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, under which a 20-year power purchase agreement will be signed between the winning developer and the Saudi Power Procurement Company, with electricity prices ranging from 7.99 to 12.71 halalas per kilowatt-hour.
The opening of the bids was broadcast live with more than 350 viewers participating via the online platform specifically established to manage tenders for renewable energy projects in the Kingdom.
It is worth noting that the request for proposals (RFP) documents for the 400-megawatt Dumat Al-Jandal Wind Power Project were released on 7 Dhu al-Hijjah 1438 AH, corresponding to August 29, 2017 CE, and four bids were submitted by regional and international developers who had been prequalified for this competition: ACWA Power, the French electricity company EDF (EDF Energies Nouvelles), Enel Green Power (Enel Green Power S.p.A.), and International Power SA, Dubai branch (ENGIE).
