Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy announced the list of bids received from developers to participate in the country’s third phase of renewable energy projects. The third phase includes four solar photovoltaic projects, with a total capacity of 1.2 GW.

The third phase is divided into two categories— Category A includes 120 MW Wadi Ad Dawasir and 80 MW Layla solar projects— Category B has 700 MW Ar Rass and 300 MW Saad solar projects.

Before shortlisting, all bids were evaluated to ensure compliance with the request for proposal (RfP) technical and commercial criteria. The Ministry expects to reach commercial and financial closing soon.

Each of the four projects is obligated to meet the local content requirements imposed by the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, which aims at increasing the value-added contribution of products and services to the national economy. The successful bidders will enter into a 25-year PPAs with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) as an offtaker.

According to an official statement, the Ministry is responsible for achieving the objectives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ renewable energy initiative, which aims at increasing the renewable energy share in the Kingdom’s energy mix to its optimal level while maintaining the required efficiency. The Ministry is also in charge of meeting the environmental objectives in terms of CO2 emission reduction.

The Ministry aims to achieve critical economic objectives by reducing fossil fuel consumption used for electricity generation. It also works closely with the international private sector. The Ministry enables local developers to partner with experienced international developers to gain experience and achieve the renewable energy sector goals, core to Saudi Vision 2030.

In January 2020, the Ministry issued the request for qualification (RfQ) for four solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 1.2 GW. The Saudi Arabia Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) had announced the list of pre-qualified companies to bid in the third phase for a combined solar capacity of 1.2 GW in March 2020.