The power generation developer from Saudi Arabia, ACWA Power, has won a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to build the nation’s first utility scale renewable energy project.

The firm will develop the Sakaka independent power producer (IPP) for SAR1.1bn (US$302mn).

The photovoltaic (PV) plant will be located on a 600 hectare site in Al Jouf, and is set to have a 300MW capacity when complete.

The project has set a new world tarrif ecord, at 8.781 halalas/kWh (US cents 2.3417/kWh).

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"We are very excited to have won this project, through such a rigorous [and] transparent process, at a new world-record tariff,” stated Paddy Padmanathan, President and CEO of ACWA Power.

“It will set the foundation for a robust and competitive [renewable energy] market in the kingdom, thus enabling Saudi Arabia to take advantage of all intrinsic valuable ingredients available to become a global hub for research, development, manufacture, and investment in the rapidly [changing] energy sector.”

The company has announced that the plant will initiate a collection of procurement initiatives within Saudi Arabia, following its renewable energy programme – aiming to generate 9.5GW of clean energy by 2023.