Global power giants pour into big Saudi renewables tender
Leading European developers including EDF and Engie have qualified for Saudi auction round, alongside Asian giants PowerChina, Marubeni and JERA
Leading green power players TotalEnergies, Masdar and Goldwind are among those to qualify for Saudi Arabia’s latest renewable energy auction, with 4.5GW of capacity up for grabs.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday announced the developers that have qualified for its sixth green power tender, which comprises the 1.5GW Dawadmi onshore wind project and 3GW of solar.
Companies qualified for “wind PV IPP Projects” – it is unclear if the “PV” is a typo, as solar projects are also listed separately – include French supermajor TotalEnergies, which is pairing with Moroccan renewables player Nareva.
Chinese wind turbine-making giant Goldwind has teamed up with JERA Nex, the global clean energy specialist launched earlier this year by Japan's JERA Group, on a project bid. Emirati renewables giant Masdar is pairing with Saudi players Al Jomaih Energy & Water Co. Ltd and Nesma Renewable Energy for a project.
Other partnerships include Japanese industrial group Sumitomo Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation; Singaporean group Sembcorp and Korean trading giant POSCO International; and Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and state-owned energy conglomerate China Power Engineering.
Engie subsidiary Kahrabel is pairing on a project with the Saudi Electricity Company. State-owned PowerChina is progressing its own bid.
Saudi Arabia is aiming to generate 50% of its power from renewables by 2030, with the other half coming from natural gas. At the end of last year, the country’s renewable energy capacity reportedly rose to 2.7GW.
Analysts have noted that Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to green its domestic power usage may be less about decarbonisation and more about saving more oil it produces for export internationally.
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