Saudi Arabia has awarded a contract for its first utility-scale wind power project, French renewable energy company EDF Renewables and one of the winning companies of the wind tender announced on Friday.
EDF Renewables said in a statement that it along with Masdar, also known as Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company based in the United Arab Emirates, won the tender for the Dumat Al Jandal wind farm in Saudi Arabia.
The Dumat Al Jandal project in Saudi Arabia plans to be the country's first wind farm, and will have an installed capacity of 400 megawatts. It will be located 560 miles (901 kilometers) north of Riyadh in the Al Jouf region of northwestern Saudi Arabia.
In a statement made in the Saudi capital Riyadh in July 2018, it was announced the EDF Renewables and Masdar consortium submitted the most cost-competitive bid with $21.30 per megawatt hour (MWh).
A total of 25 companies qualified for the tender of Dumat Al Jandal wind project in August 2017.
Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih said in a statement in July 2018 that, 'the $500 million Dumat Al Jandal wind farm in the northern Al Jouf region would generate enough power to supply up to 70,000 Saudi households as it connects to the Northern electricity grid.'
Construction of the wind farm will start in a few months, the statement said.
'We are delighted to be awarded this first wind project in the country, which is set to be the most powerful wind farm in the Middle East,' Bruno Bensasson, EDF group senior executive president responsible for Renewable Energies, and chairman and CEO of EDF Renewables, said in the statement.
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, said in the statement 'The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has set a clear energy strategy to substantially increase the share of renewables in its total energy mix to 10 percent by 2023.'
EDF Renewables owns 51 percent of the project while Masdar owns the remaining 49 percent.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr