The Saudi Arabian Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) has awarded a contract to a consortium led by the Emirati utility Masdar and the French energy group EDF to develop the 400 MW Dumat Al Jandal onshore wind project. The consortium submitted the lowest levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) bid of SAR8c/kWh (US$2.1c/kWh), while their rival ACWA submitted a bid of SAR10c/kWh (US$2.7c/kWh).
The US$500m project is expected to generate 1.4 TWh/year of power, which will be sold under the framework of a 20-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) with Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC).
The Saudi Arabian government is implementing its Vision 2030 programme under the framework of an official plan called Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) and aims to produce 10% of its power from renewable sources by 2023. To reach this target, up to 9.5 GW of wind and solar capacity will have to be installed. This plan is expected to require investments ranging between US$30bn and US$50bn.