Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) plans to invest more than 797 million Saudi riyals ($212.5 million) to connect 4.17 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy projects to the grid by 2021, according to a recent report.

“We already successfully integrated the first ever utility-scale renewable energy utility, Sakaka SPV plant [with a total capacity of 300 megawatts (mw)], into the grid in 2019, and are expecting to complete the connection to the following projects in 2020-2021,” SEC said in its latest sustainability report.

These projects, according to the report, include the 400 MW Doumat Al-Jandal wind power plant; the 300 MW Rabigh solar power plant; the 600 MW Al Faisaliah solar power plant; the 200 MW Al-Qurayyat solar power plant station; the 20 MW Rafah solar power plant; the 300 MW South Jeddah solar power plant; the 50 MW Madina solar power plant and the 2,000 MW Sudair solar power plant

“Furthermore, we expect to invest approximately 8.2 billion riyals ($2.2 billion) in renewable integration projects during the period 2022-2025, to grow the renewable capacity connected to the grid to 27.6 GW,” the report noted.

The report also disclosed that negotiations are under way with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for the development of the Sudair Solar Project based on Royal Decree No. 5629 of 27 January 1441, [which approved awarding the project to the PIF]. The terms of the contract were presented in December 2019.

In 2017, SEC had established Saudi Power Purchase Company (SPPC) to act as off-taker for private-sector led renewable energy projects in the kingdom.

(Reporting by Anoop Menon; editing by Seban Scaria)

(anoop.menon@refintiv.com)

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