Saudi Arabia extends deadline for solar projects

09 January 2017

Two photovoltaic solar IPPs will be located in northern region of kingdom

State utility Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has extended the bid submission date for proposals for its first major standalone renewable energy projects.

The client has set a new submission date of 28 February for proposals for the two photovoltaic (PV) projects, which will have a combined total capacity of 100MW and will be located at Al-Jouf and Rafha in the northern region of the kingdom. The previous deadline was 31 January.

MEED reported in early October last year that SEC had finalised the prequalification list for the solar independent power projects (IPPs), and on 25 October the utility issued RFPs to the 18 prequalified groups.

The IPP projects will be developed under a build, own and operate (BOO) model, with the successful bidder signing a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SEC. Interestingly, the project companies formed to develop the plants will be 100 per cent owned by the successful developers.

SEC is planning to select shortlisted bidders by the 31 March 2017, and is aiming to sign the PPAs on 1 May 2017. The client is targeting for financial close to be achieved by 1 June 2017, with pre-commissioning dates of 1 June 2018 and 1 August 2018 for the Rafha and Al-Jouf plants respectively.

The UK’s HSBC has been appointed as financial consultant, with the UK’s DLA Piper as legal consultant and the Netherland’s DNV as technical consultant.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.