Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system company JinkoSolar has won a contract to supply solar PV modules with a capacity of 3GW for Saudi Arabia’s Haden and Al-Khushaybi solar projects.

The projects comprise two of the three solar schemes awarded under round four of the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) Price Discovery Scheme.

Saudi utility developer Acwa Power, in partnership with PIF-backed Water & Electricity Holding Company (Badeel) and Saudi Aramco Power Company (Sapco), a subsidiary of state majority-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco, is developing the PIF 4 projects.

Beijing-headquartered China Energy Engineering Corporation has been appointed as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)contractor for the 2,000MW Haden solar project in Mecca.

The renewable energy arm of India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is the EPC contractor for the 1,500MW Al-Khushaybi solar PV project in Qassim.

The contract awarded to JinkoSolar entails the supply of its N-type Tiger Neo series 78 photovoltaic modules in the Haden solar project.

The Al-Khushaybi power station on the other hand will deploy JinkoSolar's N-type Tiger Neo series 66 photovoltaic modules.

According to JinkoSolar', itsTiger Neo modules feature the "advanced N-type TOPCon technology". The modules have demonstrated excellent low degradation rates, low-temperature coefficients and high reliability, ensuring the project's high-level performance under the harsh conditions of high irradiation, high temperatures, large significant temperature differences between day and night, and frequent sandstorms in Saudi Arabia.

 Acwa Power and its partners announced reaching financial close for the three large-scale solar PV projects late last month.

Acwa Power’s effective shareholding in each of the three projects is 35.1%. Badeel owns 34.9% and Sapco owns the remaining shares.

The project companies signed financing documents amounting to SR9.7bn ($2.6bn), Acwa Power previously announced.

The financing duration is 27.3 years.

The three new solar PV facilities have a combined value of SR12.3bn ($3.3bn) and are expected to become operational in the first half of 2027.

The renewable energy arm of India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the 2,000MW Muwayh and the 1,500MW Al-Khushaybi solar PV projects located in Mecca and Qassim, respectively.

The PIF is procuring 70% of Saudi Arabia's target renewable energy installed capacity by 2030 through the Price Discovery Scheme. The rest is being procured through a public tendering process overseen by SPPC. 

The Saudi Energy Ministry recently said that the kingdom will procure 20GW of renewable energy capacity annually starting this year, in line with a revised target to install up to 130GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, "subject to demand growth".

PIF solar PV projects

The PIF and its partners are developing several projects with a total capacity of 13.6GW, involving over $9bn in investments. These joint projects – including Sudair, Shuaibah 2, Ar Rass 2, Al-Kahfah and Saad 2 – are intended to enable and support the local private sector through domestic supply-chain participation.

These three new contracts take Acwa Power's solar portfolio in Saudi Arabia to 14 projects, representing more than 17.8GW of combined PV capacity. It also brings Acwa Power's total renewable capacity portfolio to 35GW.