SirajPower and ENERCO sign partnership agreement to grow Saudi solar sector
The Kingdom is targeting 130GW of renewable energy by 2030 with solar a key driver of the government’s National Renewable Energy Program vision.
SirajPower, Positive Zero’s distributed power generation subsidiary, and Tamimi Energy’s power solutions provider Energy Equipment Rental Company (ENERCO) have teamed up to develop and deliver solar projects across the Kingdom.
Under the agreement, complementary expertise and capabilities will be mutually leveraged via a flexible framework that covers development and financing for future commercial and industrial solar power solutions spanning equipment, technology and personnel.
Commenting on the agreement, which is Positive Zero’s first strategic partnership in the Kingdom, David Auriau, Co-Founder and CEO, Positive Zero, said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is about to experience a surge in demand for clean energy, and photovoltaic solar power will be the foundation for meeting this demand as the key element of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) of Vision 2030.
Salah Abdullatif, Executive General Manager, Tamimi Energy Holding Company, said: "The pace of the clean energy transformation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is picking up rapidly, with the Saudi Green Initiative setting an ambitious target to increase the share of renewable energy to 50 per cent of the primary energy mix by 2030. This is no small feat, and ENERCO, as a key subsidiary of Tamimi Energy, is ideally positioned to play a crucial role in this journey.
"Our collaboration with SirajPower and the Positive Zero group will perfectly complement Tamimi Energy’s capabilities and open up significant opportunities for both parties to accelerate the adoption of solar power across multiple sectors in the Kingdom."
The Kingdom’s solar power ambition is rapidly gaining momentum with a slew of high-profile announcements in 2023, including power purchase agreements (PPA) between Acwa Power, Public Investment Fund subsidiary, Badeel, and Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), worth US$3.25 billion (May 2023). The agreements cover development and operation of three solar PV independent power producer projects with a combined 4.55GW renewable energy capacity.
Saudi Arabia's largest renewable energy project, the US$2.2 billion, 2.6GW Al Shuaibah solar plant, completed financing in August 2023. The joint venture development agreement between Saudi Aramco, Badeel and Acwa Power is expected to begin commercial operation in 2025.
In November 2023, SPCC announced a 3.7GW solar PV tender for four projects, as part of the fifth NREP round and comprising 25 per cent of total energy capacity awarded under the programme. The successful bidders were officially named in February this year, with EDF Renewables, Itochu Corporation, Masdar, Saudi Electricity Company and Total Energies Renewables among the winning companies.
In Q4 2023, Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar, together with EDF Renewables and Nesma Company from Saudi Arabia, signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Saudi Power Procurement Company to develop the US$1 billion 1,100MW Al Henakiyah solar project in Al Madinah province.
A total of 35 new renewable energy projects are reportedly set to be launched in 2024, according to comments made by Bandar AlKhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources on the sidelines of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP) annual ceremony in December 2023. The Kingdom is targeting an additional 20GW of renewable energy annually, to reach 130GW by 2030.
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