ACWA Power expands Sudair Solar PV with 25% capacity boost

Saudi Arabia’s utility company ACWA Power has received a commercial operation certificate for the second phase of the 1,500 megawatts Sudair solar power project, according to a bourse filing.

The company told Tadawul on Sunday that it received the certification from Saudi Power Procurement Co., the principal energy buyer in the Kingdom.

In September, the company received a commercial operation certification for the first phase of the project.

The second phase includes a 25 percent as an addition to the first phase which represents 50 percent of the 1,500 MW plant capacity.

This brings the overall production capacity under commercial operation to 1,125 MW.

Once completed, the SR3.5 billion ($932.9 million) project will power 185,000 homes and balance around 2.9 million tons of annual emissions.

The Sudair solar power project is 50 percent backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and 35 percent by ACWA Power.

The project, located in Saudi Arabia’s Sudair Industrial City, is on track to become one of the world’s largest single-contracted solar PV projects and the largest of its kind in the Kingdom, according to the company’s website.

It was the first under the PIF’s renewable energy program, and it achieved the second lowest cost in the world for solar PV electricity production.

In August, an ACWA Power-led consortium secured financial closure for Al-Shuaibah solar projects with an investment of $2.37 billion.

ACWA Power CEO Marco Arcelli, said in a press release at the time: “Securing financing for this groundbreaking project marks a significant step toward achieving Saudi Arabia’s clean energy goals, in alignment with the National Renewable Energy Program, which aims to generate 50 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.”

According to the news release, the $1.63 billion in senior debt financing for this plant includes a $450 million Saudi riyal-denominated loan from the National Development Fund on behalf of the National Infrastructure Fund.

A $1.18 billion commercial facility provided by a consortium of local, regional, and international banks is also included in the funding.