THE Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources has launched its first requests for qualifications (RFQ) for the Kingdom's National Renewable Energy Program (NREP). The RFQ process for the NREP is open to any company (or consortium of companies) with the technical and financial capabilities to execute projects of this scale. The RFQ will be managed through an eProcurement portal, ensuring that the process is fair, transparent, and fast. Round 1 RFQ documents can be viewed, downloaded, and responded to via the dedicated, secure government gateway, found at www.powersaudiarabia.com.sa. The RFQ window closes on March 20, with pre-qualified bidders announced by April 10. Khalid Al-Falih, minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, said: "This marks the starting point of a long and sustained program of renewable energy deployment in Saudi Arabia, that will not only diversify our power mix but also catalyze economic development and support long-term prosperity in line with Vision 2030 goals which include creating a new renewable industry and support the buildup of this promising sector." "It is our goal to make the National Renewable Energy Program among the most attractive, competitive and well executed government renewable energy investment programs in the world, and we have all the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure that is the case," he continued. "We look forward to engaging and working with developers and investors all over the world as the Kingdom works toward its energy transition." The sites selected for Round 1 include Sakaka, in the Al-Jouf Province where the 300 MW of solar PV will be developed, and Midyan, in Tabuk Province, for the 400 MW wind project. The projects will be backed by 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for Solar PV and 20 year PPA for Wind. Both sites have undergone full pre-development work, and site assessments will be made available to pre-qualified bidders at the request for proposal stage (RFP). The application for pre-qualification is open on an individual basis, to all entities engaged in the electric power sector, or to a consortium of firms, in which at least one entity has experience in the electric power sector, especially as a renewable energy independent power producer (IPP). Entities from Saudi Arabia, in addition to regional and international players across the wind and solar power value chain are encouraged to participate in the pre-qualification process. Pre-qualified bidders will enter into the Round 1 RFP due to launch on April 17, with the RFP process expected to close in July. Companies whose pre-qualification application is unsuccessful as either a manager or technical role in Round 1 will still be eligible to participate in future NREP RFQs, and potentially RFPs, as long as they qualify for the projects. The NREP targets 9.5 GW of Renewable Energy by 2023 in support of Vision 2030, with an interim target of 3.45 GW of Renewable power capacity by 2020 under the National Transformation Program (NTP).
