Saudi Power Procurement Company (Principal Buyer), under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy, has launched the qualification bid process for the second group of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) package consisting of a total of six projects.

The combined capacity of Group 2 BESS projects is 3,000 MW for a 4-hour storage duration  (12,000 MWh). 

According to Principal Buyer, three of these 500MW/2,000MWh projects are located in the Makkah province and one each in Madinah; Qassim and the Eastern province. 

Each project will be developed under a build-own-operate (BOO) model, with the winning consortium holding 100 per cent equity in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up to develop and operate the Independent Storage Provider (ISP) project. Each SPV will enter into a storage services agreement with the Principal Buyer.  

As part of the current qualification process for energy storage projects, the Principal Buyer has opened qualification for solar PV, wind and future energy storage projects to be tendered at a later stage. 

The National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) aims to increase the share of installed capacities from renewable energy sources and energy storage systems in the energy mix to reach around 50 per cent by 2030, subject to electricity demand growth.