The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Energy announced on Monday the names of shortlisted bidders in a tender that seeks to award 1,200 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity.

The competition is the third round of the country’s National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) and will allow bidding in two categories. The first one covers the 80-MW Layla and the 120-MW Wadi Al Dawasir solar projects, while the 300-MW Saad and the 700-MW Ar Rass schemes will be offered in the other category.

The lowest bid that was proposed as part of the Request for Proposals (RfP) from April 2020 stands at SAR 55.626 (USD 14.83/EUR 12.78) per MWh. It was offered for the Saad project.

Details about the shortlisted candidates in each category are available in the table.

Winners in the tender will be awarded 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC). Each project will be developed in line with the country’s local content requirements.

Saudi Arabia launched NREP in 2017 to lift the share of renewables in its overall power mix. The first round of the programme facilitated the installation of the 300-MW Sakaka solar park and the 400-MW Dumat Al Jandal wind farm, which produced its first power in April. The Kingdom’s goal is to have 27.3 GW of renewables capacity by 2024 and 58.7 GW by 2030.