Saudi TRSDC becomes world's largest tourism site with renewable energy after deal with ACWA-led consortium

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's sustainable tourism development co., TRSDC, announced today it has finalized the deal for a 25-year renewable energy project with a consortium led by ACWA Power as the consortium closed financing for the project.

"This confirms the development as the largest tourism project in the world set to be powered solely by renewable energy," TRSDC said in a statement.

The consortium made of local and international investors secured financing to design, build and operate the project's infrastructure for 25 years, before handing its operations back to TRSDC, it said.

Financing comes from a mix of Saudi and international banks, including the UK’s Standard Chartered Bank and China’s Silk Road Fund.

"Initial assets will be delivered by December 2022 with the balance coming online throughout 2023, delivering a total generating capacity circa 407 MWp of Solar PV power for Phase 1. By completion, the destination will have the infrastructure in place to generate up to up to 760,000 MWh of renewable energy per year," it said.

According to TRSDC, the power generation assets will also include the world’s largest battery storage facility of 1000 MWh, allowing the destination to remain powered by renewables day and night.

This will create a saving of at least half a million tons of CO2 each year . That’s the equivalent to emissions from around 99,000 cars or 78,000 homes.