Electricite de France SA and Masdar, the green energy company in the UAE, won a 25-year contract to provide power and water to a resort complex Saudi Arabia is building on its Red Sea Coast.
The project will cost about $1.4 billion and should start supplying power and water services next year, Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said in an interview. The complex is part of a wider plan to transform the desert oil producer into a luxury travel destination.
“It’s a unique project,” Al Ramahi said. The partners will build “a fully integrated independent utility project. Basically it is power, it’s water, it’s water treatment, it’s distribution, and it’s totally off grid powered by renewables”. The companies aim to raise about 80 per cent of the cost through project financing that will close by the end of the year, he said.
The firms won the contract to provide solar energy and desalinated water to the Amaala project from state-owned developer Red Sea Global, according to a joint statement on Monday. The partners will build a solar energy system capable of generating up to 410,000 megawatt hours of power a year, enough to supply the equivalent of 10,000 homes. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
The world’s biggest crude oil exporter is ploughing its wealth into massive industrial, lifestyle and technology projects as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan. The crown prince wants to prepare Saudi Arabia for a less oil-reliant future by creating new industries and jobs.
Amaala is meant to be powered entirely by solar energy and produce no carbon dioxide emissions once fully operational. EDF and Masdar will build battery storage so it can deliver power round the clock. It will also have a renewable energy-powered desalination plant and waste-water treatment facilities.
