PIF-owned Badeel, Acwa Power sign PPA for USD 1.75 bn, 2.06 GW solar plant: A joint venture between Saudi renewable energy developer Acwa Power and Saudi Arabia’s Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel) signed a 35-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) for a 2.06 GW solar plant in Al Shuaibah, according to an Acwa Power statement. The USD 1.75 bn facility is set to be the largest of its kind in the Middle East and is expected to come online by 4Q 2025, the statement notes.

The details: The joint venture — Shuaibah 2 Electrical Energy Company — will develop the facility. Badeel, a unit of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Acwa Power will each hold a 50% stake in the JV. No details were provided on how the facility will be financed.

Not their first time around the block: A consortium of Acwa Power, Badeel, and Saudi Aramco Power Company established the Sudair One Renewable Energy Company in August 2021. The SAR 3.4 bn company signed a PPA with the SPPC as an offtaker for the 1.5 GW Sudair solar plant in Riyadh.

IN THE UAE- Trough Unit 1 of Phase 4 of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park has begun supplying electricity to UAE’s national grid, Zawya reports. The 700 MW concentrated solar power unit can generate power continuously for an average of 13.5 hours at night and 15 hours during periods of overcast or rainy weather, according to the statement.

AND OVER IN EGYPT- Eight unnamed companies submitted tenders for a new USD 91 mn, 20 MW solar plant in Hurghada, Al Dostor quotes New and Renewable Energy Agency (NREA) Deputy Chairman Ihab Ismail as saying. The Electricity Ministry’s New and Renewable Energy Agency’s (NREA) issued a tender to develop the project, with a two-year operation and maintenance contract. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing funding for the project through a Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) loan.