ACWA Power to develop renewable energy projects in Saudi Arabia

In the presence of His Royal Highness, Prince AbdulAziz bin Salman bin AbdulAziz Al Saud, Minister of Energy, ACWA Power, a leader in energy transition, a first mover in green hydrogen, and the world's largest private water desalination company, the Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), a wholly owned company of PIF, and Saudi Aramco Power Company (SAPCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Aramco, announced the signing of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) as the procurer and off-taker for the development of five large-scale solar photovoltaic (solar PV) plants and two large-scale wind energy plants across Saudi Arabia.

With a total investment value of approximately $8.3 billion (more than SAR 31 billion), the seven new projects aim to generate a combined capacity of 15,000 MW (12,000 MW Solar PV and 3000 MW wind energy). They are an important component in Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP), which is led and supervised by the Ministry of Energy and is reflected in PIF’s commitment to develop 70% of Saudi Arabia’s Renewable Energy Target Capacity by 2030.

The seven new renewable energy plants include Bisha (3000 MW solar PV, located in Asir province), Humaij (3000 MW Solar PV, located in Madinah province), Khulis (2000 MW Solar PV, located in Makkah province), Afif1 (2000 MW Solar PV, located in Riyadh province), Afif2 (2000 MW Solar PV, located in Riyadh province), Starah (2000 MW Wind, located in Riyadh province), and Shaqra (1000 MW Wind, located in Riyadh province); and will be jointly owned by Badeel, ACWA Power and SAPCO.

The projects will contribute an additional 15,000 MW of renewable energy to the national power grid once operational in the second half of 2027 and first half of 2028. Financial closes are expected by the third quarter of 2025.