Saudi Arabia's first wind project is 50% complete

Dumat Al Jandal will have 99 wind turbines and power up to 70,000 homes a year when it is connected to the grid

The first phase of the Dumat Al Jandal wind project, The $500 million project was awarded to the Masdar-EDF consortium in January 2019.  Courtesy: Masdar

Saudi Arabia's first wind project, developed by a consortium led by France's EDF Renewables and Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar, is 50 per cent complete.

The 400-megawatt utility-scale Dumat Al Jandal project is located 900 kilometres north of Riyadh in the kingdom's Al Jouf region.

The wind farm will have 99 wind turbines upon completion, each with a power output of 2.2MW. The first power from the wind farm project is expected within "the coming weeks", Abu Dhabi's Masdar said in a statement on Sunday.

The kingdom plans to account for almost half of the region's wind capacity additions by 2028 as part of its commitment to lower emissions and the energy impact of fossil fuels under its 2030 diversification strategy.

Dumat Al Jandal is expected to be completed in 2022 and will power up to 70,000 homes annually, displacing nearly a million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

"As a global leader in the development of commercially viable wind power, Masdar is committed to advancing clean technology across the region and we will continue our efforts to support the country’s ambitious energy programme," Mohamed Al Ramahi, Masdar's chief executive, said.

The $500 million project was awarded to the EDF-Masdar consortium in January 2019 after they submitted a cost-competitive bid of $21.3 per megawatt hour (MWh). The project achieved a 6.5 per cent gain on levelised cost of electricity at $19.9 per MWh when it reached financial close.

The wind farm will supply electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Saudi Power Procurement Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi Electricity Company.

The first phase of the project will connect to the kingdom's grid in the coming weeks, said Osama bin Abdulwahab Khawandanah, chief executive at Saudi Procurement Company.

On Saturday, Masdar and EDF Renewables also reached financial close on a 300MW solar power plant project in Jeddah.

The consortium, which includes Saudi Arabia-based Nesma Company, will begin construction on the Jeddah-based plant that is scheduled to begin operation in 2022.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman oversaw the signing of seven power purchase agreements for new solar photovoltaic plants.

The kingdom connected its first solar photovoltaic plant, the 300MW Sakaka power plant to the grid last week.