State-backed Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPCC) has signed two power purchase agreements (PPA) with a consortium led by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation to procure power from the 600-megawatt (MW) AlGhat and 500-MW Wa’ad Alshamal wind projects.

The agreements, part of round 4 of the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP), supervised by the Saudi energy ministry, were signed during the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 Business Forum, Saudi Press Agency reported.

AlGhat project achieved a new world record low cost of electricity production from wind power at 1.56558 cents/kWh levelised cost of electricity (LCOE). In addition, Wa’ad Alshamal project achieved the second lowest LCOE at 1.70187 cents/kWh.

The electricity produced from both projects is sufficient to power 257,000 residential units per year, said Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

The two projects are part of the Kingdom’s efforts to replace liquid fuels in the power sector and achieve an energy mix with a share of renewables around 50 percent by 2030. 

In December 2023, Prince Abdulaziz said the Kingdom aims to add 20 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy annually to reach 130 GW before 2030.

He added that more than 80 initiatives in the public and private sectors are being undertaken with investments worth more than 705 billion Saudi riyals ($188 billion) to build a more sustainable future for all.

The Kingdom has more than doubled its renewable energy production capacity from 700 MW in 2022 to over 2.2 GW, with more than 8 GW and 13 GW of renewable energy under development.

The Kingdom plans to issue tenders for around 20 GW this year and become a key source of green hydrogen.

Read more: Saudi Arabia-based wind farm marks key construction milestone with arrival of first turbines

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.