Toyota Tsusho, partners enter Saudi solar market

Toyota Group company and partners will build, own and operate solar power plant in Saudi Arabia, the company’s first renewable project in the Kingdom, putting 119 MW at Wadi Ad Dawasir; due for commercial operations in ‘25

Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation announced this month that its joint venture with France’s TotalEnergies Renewables and a unit of Saudi-based Zahid Group, has obtained a contract from Saudi Power Procurement Company for a 119MW solar power plant in the kingdom.

According to a statement by Toyota Tsusho, the plant will cost $100 million. The project is being led by Toyota Tsusho via a joint venture with Noor Alwadi Renewable Energy Company. The Japanese group and TotalEnergies Renewables each have a 40% stake, while Altaaqa Renewable Energy holds the remaining 20%. Lenders to this project are Riyad Bank and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).

The solar plant is Toyota Tsusho’s first renewable project in Saudi Arabia and will be implemented on a build, own, operate (BOO) model. Wadi Ad Dawasir, a region with year-long abundant solar resources, has been chosen as the site. Work has already begun, and it is due for commercial operations in March 2025.

Japan lowers GHG

According to the statement from Toyota Tsusho, this project was selected for the Financing Program for Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) Model Projects, an initiative of Japan's Ministry of the Environment, in fiscal year 2022. Through this project, Toyota Tsusho aims to continue to contribute to the expansion of renewable energy and the transition to carbon neutral society, it added.

The purpose of the JCM Model’s projects is to financially support the implementation of projects which reduce GHG emissions by utilizing leading decarbonizing technologies in developing countries, and in return, to acquire JCM credits for achievement of Japan’s GHG emission reduction and the partner countries’ emission reduction targets.

The companies

Toyota Tsusho is a trading company and a member of Toyota Group. Altaaqa Alternative Solutions Company (Altaaqa), a wholly owned company of the Zahid Group, was established in 2004 to address power requirements in Saudi Arabia. They are involved in the utilities sector, especially electricity, water and renewables, across Saudi Arabia.

In June, a report by Energy & Utilities revealed that Toyota Tsusho is the Energy, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor at a geothermal project in Kenya.

Energy & Utilities has reported on TotalEnergies' investment in Qatar’s first solar plant, Al Kharsaah, located 80 km west of Doha and led by Qatar Energy, and the company's work on solar projects in Africa. 

David Haziri contributed reporting