Saudi Arabia sets world record for cheap wind energy

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Minister of Energy announced that Saudi Arabia has achieved new world records in reducing the cost of producing electricity from wind energy, thanks to the Al-Ghat and Wa’ad Alshamal projects.

“This great step would support the Kingdom’s plans to raise the share of renewable energy to 50 percent of the electricity mix by 2030,” he said during the signing of energy agreements on the sidelines of the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 Business Forum in Tokyo on Tuesday.

As part of Round 4 of the Saudi National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), supervised by the Ministry of Energy, Saudi Power Procurement Company (principal buyer) has signed two power purchase agreements with the consortium led by Japan’s MARUBENI Corporation to procure power from AlGhat Wind Project (600 MW) and Wa’ad Alshamal Wind Project (500MW).

The signing of the agreements came after a public competition for five bids for each project. Both projects achieved new world records for wind energy projects in terms of the total cost of electricity production.

Prince Abdulaziz thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, who is also chairman of the Supreme Committee for Energy Mix Affairs for Electricity Production and Enabling Renewable Energy Sector, for all the encouragement, support, and follow up that the Ministry of Energy and its ecosystem receive from the country’s leadership, to enable achieving the Vision 2030 targets in the energy sector.

“It is my pleasure to announce that AlGhat project achieved a new world record low cost of electricity production from wind power at 1.56558 cents/kWh (5.87094 halalas/kWh) Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), and Wa’ad Alshamal project has also achieved a second world record low for wind power at 1.70187 cents/kWh (6.38201 halalas/kWh) LCOE,” he said.

Prince Abdulaziz said that the electricity produced from both projects is sufficient to power 257,000 residential units per year, which emphasizes the significance of these projects in enhancing the energy efficiency in Saudi Arabia.

It is noteworthy that the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) is a strategic initiative under Vision 2030 and the King Salman Renewable Energy Initiative. The program aims to maximize the potential of renewable energy in Saudi Arabia.