The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) has opened the qualification process for the Second group of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects with a combined capacity of 3 GW/12 GWh (SPPC, 23/04/2026).
The tender will offer six projects, each rated 500 MW/2,000 MWh (4 hour storage), to be developed in the Makka province (Al-Leeth BESS, Khulis BESS, and Ashyrah BESS), in the Qassim province (Samha BESS), in the Madinah province (Al-Henakiyah BESS), and in the Eastern province (Sadawi BESS).
According to the SPPC, "Each project will be developed under a build-own-operate (BOO) model, with the winning consortium holding 100% equity in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up to develop and operate the Independent Storage Provider (ISP) project. Each SPV will enter into a Storage Services Agreement with the Principal Buyer."
Saudi Arabia's National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) targets a capacity of 58.7 GW of renewables in 2030 to cover 50% of the energy mix, 40 GW of which from solar and 16 GW from wind. Since 2019, SPPC, the Saudi Power Procurement Company, has launched 6 calls for tenders and has already awarded more than 12.6 GW of renewable capacity. The sixth round awarded a total capacity of 4.5 GW in October 2025, comprising 3 GW for solar spread over 4 projects (including 1.4 GW for Najran alone) and 1 large wind project of 1.5 GW (Dawadmi) (Enerdata's Global Energy Research).
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