Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman, Minister of Energy, Al-Jouf Governor Prince Faisal Bin Nawaf, French Ambassador Ludovic Pouille, Danish Ambassador Ole Mosby, Bruno Bensasson, EDF Group senior executive vice-president renewable energies, and Fawaz Al Muharrami, acting executive director, clean energy, Masdar paid a visit to the Dumat Al Jandal wind farm construction site to acknowledge the conclusion of the project

A consortium led by EDF Renewables and Masdar, two of the world's leading renewable energy firms, is developing the 400-megawatt (MW) utility-scale project, which will be Saudi Arabia's first and largest wind farm.

The first turbines were installed on the site, which is located 900 kilometers north of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia's Al Jouf area, in August 2020, and the project is expected to be completed in 2022. The wind farm will have 99 wind turbines with a total capacity of 4.2 megawatts (MW). The wind farm is expected to produce its first power in the upcoming days.

Once completed, Dumat Al Jandal would produce enough renewable energy to power up to 70,000 Saudi households annually, while also reducing CO2 emissions by 988,000 tonnes per year, helping the Kingdom meet its climate change mitigation goals.

The $500 million Dumat Al Jandal wind farm was awarded to the EDF Renewables-Masdar consortium in January 2019 under Saudi Arabia's National Renewable Energy Program after the partnership offered the most cost-competitive offer of $21.3 per megawatt-hour (MWh). The project's balanced cost of energy (LCOE) hit $19.9/MWh at a financial close, representing a 6.5 % gain.

The Saudi Power Procurement Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), the Saudi power generation and Distribution Company, will supply electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Dumat Al Jandal wind farm.

“This is indeed a great pleasure to learn that Masdar and EDF Renewables have finally accomplished this main construction achievement of the 400 MW wind power plant installed at Dumat Al-Jandal, which shall energize the entire project,” said Osama Bin Abdulwahab Khawandanah, CEO of Saudi Power Procurement Company, which is responsible for buying the entire output of the Dumat Al Jandal project.

“This project will be the Kingdom's first major utility-scale wind farm. As the principal buyer (energy off-taker), Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) will purchase all electricity generated by this green energy project over the course of a 20-year contract. On this achievement, my sincere thanks to the project company management and their team members.”

“It is a privilege to contribute to the Kingdom's energy transition with the creation of the Middle East's most efficient wind farm, Dumat Al Jandal,” said EDF's Bensasson. We acknowledge the cooperation of the authorities and agencies responsible for implementing the National Renewable Energy Program.

“Now that half of the power plant has been completed, we are looking forth to complete the project's final commissioning with our partners and contractors in the months ahead.”

“Masdar is honored to be utilizing its knowledge in renewable energy to bring the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's first wind farm in partnership with our partners,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar. Halfway through the project, we've reached a significant point, and we're excited to see how things progress in the coming months.”

Masdar is committed to promoting renewable technology across the region as a world leader in the production of commercially viable wind power, and will continue our efforts to support the country's ambitious energy program, he added.