Financial Close for the first wind park in Saudi Arabia

Financial close has been reached for Saudi Arabia’s 400 MW Dumat Al Jandal wind park in the Al Jouf region of Saudi Arabia that is being developed by a consortium of French renewable energy firm EDF Renewables and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) at a cost of US$500 million.

The investment for the project was secured from Saudi Arabian and international banks.

The consortium was awarded the project by Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO), part of the kingdom’s Ministry of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, after a tender was announced in August 2017. The winning bid amounted to US$21.3 per MWh. The Dumat Al Jandal will be Saudi Arabia´s first wind park and the largest in the Middle East.

Project construction is expected to commence soon. Once operational in 2022, Dumat Al Jandal will produce electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Saudi Power Procurement Company.

Vestas, the contracted wind-turbine technology provider, will be responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, and Spain’s TSK will be responsible for the balance of plant, whereas CG Holdings will provide the substations and high-voltage solutions.

EDF Group Senior Executive President responsible for Renewable Energies, and Chairman and CEO of EDF Renewables Bruno Bensasson said: ¨We are delighted to take part in the first wind project in the country, which is set to be the most powerful wind farm in the Middle East. This new step reflects the quality of our partnership with Masdar, which has enabled us to jointly submit the most competitive bid. Wind power is now representing a renewable and economical solution in the energy mix.¨