Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources (MEIM) has issued a request for proposal (RFPs) for round two of the Kingdom’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP). The RFP was issued by The Renewable Energy Development Office (Repdo) for six projects for a total solar PV capacity of 1.47 GW.
In June 2019, Repdo qualified 60 companies, including 28 from Saudi Arabia which will now proceed to the RFP stage as either managing member, technical member, or under a newly-created category of ‘local managing member’.
Additionally, round two projects have been divided into two categories: ‘Category A’ for smaller projects and ‘Category B’ for larger projects. ‘Category A’ projects require consortium members to partner with at least one local managing member.
According to a report by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the RFP for two ‘Category A’ projects was issued on 1 August, following the issuance of RFP for four ‘Category B’ solar projects on 18 July. The six round two projects will see a total solar PV capacity of 1.47 gigawatts (GW) tendered to qualified companies.
All projects tendered by Repdo are issued under the independent power producer scheme and must be backed by 20-year to 25-year power purchase agreements. The six projects which are part of round two represent the first half of Repdo’s 2019 project, while a further six will be tendered by the last quarter of the year constituting round three of the NREP.
Projects within round two will carry a minimum requirement of 17 per cent local content as calculated by the mechanisms defined by the Local Content & Government Procurement Authority (LCGPA), which aims to increase the value-added contribution of products and services in the national economy, SPA added.