A solar plant in Uyayna, north of Riyadh. The kingdom's National Renewable Energy Programme aims to generate 50 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. AFP
A solar plant in Uyayna, north of Riyadh. The kingdom's National Renewable Energy Programme aims to generate 50 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. AFP
A solar plant in Uyayna, north of Riyadh. The kingdom's National Renewable Energy Programme aims to generate 50 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. AFP
A solar plant in Uyayna, north of Riyadh. The kingdom's National Renewable Energy Programme aims to generate 50 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. AFP

Two major Saudi solar projects reach financial close with investment of $2.4bn


Aarti Nagraj
  • English
  • Arabic

Two major solar photovoltaic power projects in Saudi Arabia have achieved financial close with total investment of $2.37 billion.

The projects are being developed by energy company Acwa Power, the Water and Electricity Holding Company, or Badeel – which is owned by the Public Investment Fund – and the Saudi Aramco Power Company.

The Al Shuaibah PV 1 and Al Shuaibah PV 2 plants in Makkah province will have capacity of 600 megawatts and 2.031 gigawatts respectively, and are capable of powering about 450,000 households, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in 2025.

Saudi Power Procurement Company is the procurer and off-taker for the projects, which will be jointly owned by Badeel (34.99 per cent), Acwa Power (35.01 per cent) and Sapco (30 per cent).

"Securing financing for this groundbreaking project marks a significant step towards achieving Saudi Arabia’s clean energy goals, in alignment with the National Renewable Energy Programme, which aims to generate 50 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030," said Marco Arcelli, chief executive of Acwa Power.

Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, is developing several new renewable energy projects as it aims to boost its clean energy capacity and become carbon neutral by 2060.

The kingdom’s NREP is led and supervised by the Ministry of Energy, and the PIF aims to develop 70 per cent of the programme's target capacity by 2030.

The PIF, through Badeel and in partnership with Acwa Power as a lead developer, is executing five NREP projects, with a cumulative capacity of 8 gigawatts and more than $6 billion of investment from the fund and its partners.

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These projects – Sudair, Al Shuaibah 2, Ar Rass 2, Al Kahfah and Saad 2 – will support the local private sector through requirements for content contribution and the procurement of equipment, supplies and services through local supply chains.

The Ar Rass plant will have a capacity of 2 gigawatts when finished. Saad 2 will produce 1.125 gigawatts while Al Kahfah will have 1.425 gigawatts of capacity upon completion.

Meanwhile, Aramco’s investment in the Al Shuaibah projects through Sapco is its second participation in the NREP and is line with the company’s objectives of achieving net-zero of operational scope-1 and scope-2 emissions by 2050.

"While oil and gas will play a major role to meet the energy demand of today and tomorrow, renewables will increasingly play a part in the energy transition to address the climate change challenges," said Mohammed Al Qahtani, president of downstream at Aramco.

"The projects mark a significant milestone to support Aramco in achieving its decarburisation targets."

The $1.63 billion senior debt financing for the projects includes a $450 million, Saudi riyal-denominated loan from the National Development Fund on behalf of the National Infrastructure Fund, as well as a $1.18 billion, US-dollar denominated commercial facility from a consortium of local, regional and international banks.

The lenders include Bank Saudi Fransi, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho Bank, Riyad Bank, Saudi National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Saudi Investment Bank.

Globally, investment in renewable energy needs to double to more than $4 trillion by the end of the decade to meet net-zero emissions targets by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency.

The IEA’s stated policies scenario, which is based on the latest policy settings worldwide, expects clean energy investment to rise to slightly more than $2 trillion by 2030.

Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​Two stars

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history

4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon

- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.

50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater

1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.  

1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.

1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.

-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
HOW TO WATCH

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Company profile

Company name: Suraasa

Started: 2018

Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker

Based: India, UAE and the UK

Industry: EdTech

Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding

Martin Sabbagh profile

Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East

In the role: Since January 2015

Lives: In the UAE

Background: M&A, investment banking

Studied: Corporate finance

The Bio

Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village

What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft

Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans

Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface

PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA

Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore

Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Meydan racecard:

6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres

7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m

7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m

8.15pm: UAE Oaks | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m

8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m

9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

if you go

The flights

Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.

The hotel

Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850

 Events and tours

There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com

For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art. 

More information

For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
NYBL PROFILE

Company name: Nybl 

Date started: November 2018

Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence

Initial investment: $500,000

Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)

Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up 

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Simran

Director Hansal Mehta

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey

Three stars

SNAPSHOT

While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Company%C2%A0profile
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Updated: August 20, 2023, 6:52 PM`