The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) has awarded 7.2GW power project contracts to consortiums led by Saudi Electricity Company and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), TradeArabia has reported.

The projects are integral to the country's strategic energy mix plan, which aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030 goals that include localisation of gas turbine manufacturing and readiness for carbon capture technologies.

SPPC is tasked with the tendering and awarding of independent power projects, and the contracts were awarded for the Rumah I and II and Al Nairyah I and II projects.

The energy mix plan, supervised by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy, aims for renewable energy and gas to contribute 50% each towards domestic electricity production.

Awarding of the contracts is said to be in line with the Saudi Green Initiative, which targets net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060 through a circular carbon economy approach.

A consortium comprising Saudi Electricity Company, Acwa Power, and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has been awarded the contracts for the Rumah I and Nairyah I power plants, each with a 1.8GW capacity.

In this consortium, Saudi Electricity Company acts as a managing and technical member while ACWA Power and KEPCO are consortium members.

Meanwhile, the consortium of Taqa, Jera, and Saudi contractor Al Bawani has secured the contracts for the Rumah II and Nairyah II power plants, also each with a 1.8GW capacity.

Here, Taqa is the managing and technical member, with Jera and Al Bawani as consortium members.

SPPC will enter into a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with each project company on a build, own, and operate basis, with investments totalling approximately SR30bn ($8bn), according to the news agency.

Upon completion, these power plants are expected to supply electricity to approximately three million residential units annually.

In June this year, SPPC signed PPAs for three solar projects with a total capacity of 5.5GW in Saudi Arabia.