Global Chinese manufacturer LONGi has been awarded a module supply contract for the 400MW (DC) Rabigh Solar PV IPP project in Saudi Arabia. The contract is realized through its EPC contractor, China Energy Engineering Group, Guangdong Power Engineering Company (GPEC). The announcement was made at a ceremony attended by LONGi and its partner GTek Solar (Green Technology Company) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 400MW plant is located in Rabigh Industrial City, in the Kingdom’s western Makkah Province. The official statement of LONGi held that the project will deploy LONGi Hi-MO 5(72C) solar modules exclusively.
LONGi also said that in 2021, Japan’s Marubeni Corporation said that it had signed a PPA for the Rabigh solar project with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), with the latter committing to the purchase of power produced for a period of 25 years.
The solar power project is scheduled to be commissioned in July 2023 and will be Marubeni’s first large-scale solar project in Saudi Arabia and its fourth in the MENA region.
Guo Huojin, General Manager of GPEC, stated at the ceremony, “Under Vision 2030, the Rabigh project represents a new chapter for us in attracting projects in Saudi Arabia and it is important that we now deliver a high-quality project to our client, in close collaboration with our partners LONGi and GTek. We look forward to building a long term strategic partnership between our three companies.”
Omar Alluhaydan, GTek Solar CEO, added, “Signing up for the Rabigh project is another step towards a sustainable future with our partners, while helping achieve Vision 2030’s objective of increasing the contribution of renewable energy.”
Jia Chao, LONGi VP for MEA & CA, said, “Saudi Arabia is at the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds, leading investment capabilities and sustainable Vision 2030 ambitions. LONGi, GPEC and GTek will work together to win and build more mega projects to drive the Saudi energy transformation, in order to accomplish the Kingdom’s vision of renewables contributing up to 50% of the total energy mix by 2030.”
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had mentioned recently that the country plans to add 15 GW of solar power in 2022 and 2023. Also, NEOM megaproject alone will require 20-40 GW of solar and wind energy to meet its energy requirements. Solar power is poised for a massive expansion in the Kingdom which currently has about 500 MW of solar installed capacity.
