Saudi Arabia has invited pre-qualification bids from companies from all over the world that possess the technical and financial capacity to implement massive renewable energy projects. The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources said the bids will be managed through a portal to ensure transparency and speed. The portal, which has all security features, will also allow interested companies access to the prerequisites and submission process. Interested companies may log on via this link: www.powersaudiarabia.com.sa. The Renewable Energy Projects Office has set March 20, 2017 as the deadline for receiving the bids, and April 10 as the date for announcing the eligible applicants. Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Faleh said in a press statement that the pre-qualification requests are the first and most important step towards the development of a sustainable renewable energy program in the Kingdom. It is a move toward achieving a balance in the sources of energy in the long term, as well as contributing to the economic development of the Kingdom in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims at competitively developing the renewable energy sector. Al-Faleh added, "We aim to make the national program for renewable energy one of the most attractive and competitive programs of its kind in the world. We have the capabilities to work closely with developers and investors from all over the world and bring about a radical transformation in the energy sector." He pointed out that the goal is not only renewable energy production, but also to turn the Kingdom into a manufacturer and exporter of renewable energy technology in the medium term. The sites selected for the first phase of the project are Sakaka in Al-Jouf, northern Saudi Arabia, which is projected to produce 300 MW of solar energy, and the Madian project in Tabuk, north-west region of the Kingdom, to produce 400 MW of wind power, in its first stage, to reach 3.45 gigawatts by 2020 and 9.5 gigawatts by 2023. To implement this promising transformation program, the Ministry has adopted a business model that includes independent producers of renewable energy, offering significant investment opportunities and scope for generating new jobs. These model projects will depend on the agreements to buy power for 25 years from solar projects and for 20 years from wind power projects. Saudi Arabia plans to produce 70 percent of its power from natural gas and 30 percent from renewable and other sources by 2030. Al-Faleh had said earlier that the Kingdom was moving towards producing nuclear power and has plans to build two reactors with a combined capacity of 2.8 gigawatts. The project is currently in the front-end engineering and design stage of the planned nuclear energy plants.
