Saudi Arabia has taken a major step in advancing its renewable energy goals by prequalifying 33 companies for its first batch of large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects. The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), under the Ministry of Energy, announced the list of selected firms on December 30, 2024.

These projects, known as the G1 BESS Projects, will have a combined storage capacity of 8 gigawatt-hours (GWh) and include four independent storage provider (ISP) projects. Each project will have a power capacity of 500 megawatts (MW) with four-hour storage duration. The locations include Al-Muwyah and Haden in Makkah province, Al-Khushaybi in Qassim province, and Al-Kahafa in Hail province.

The prequalified firms include 21 companies in the “managing and technical bidder” category, such as Abu Dhabi’s Masdar and TAQA, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, and international players like EDF from France, Samsung C&T from South Korea, and JERA Nex from the UK. Meanwhile, 12 companies were listed in the “managing only” category, including Saudi-based firms like Alfanar Co. and Nesma Renewable Energy, alongside global names like Shell from the Netherlands and Sumitomo from Japan.

These projects will follow a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model, where the winning bidders will fully own the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) created for project development and operations. The SPVs will sign a 15-year Storage Services Agreement (SSA) with SPPC.

Saudi Arabia has ambitious plans in the energy sector, aiming to achieve 48 GWh of storage capacity by 2030. This move is part of the country’s broader push towards renewable energy and reducing reliance on traditional power sources.