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Financial close for 1.5 GW solar PV project in Saudi Arabia

Saudi energy company ACWA Power announced it has reached financial close for a 1.5 GW PV project set to be located at Sudair Industrial City – a location under construction approximately 120 km from the capital Riyadh.

The SAR 3.4 billion (US$907 million) project is owned by ACWA Power and Saudi electricity holding company Badeel, which have each a 35% stake in the special purpose vehicle. Sapco, a unit of the country’s energy giant Aramco owns the remaining 30%.

“A 25-year power purchase agreement for the plant was signed with the Saudi Power Procurement Company, with the tariff being among the lowest for solar PV projects globally,” ACWA Power said in a statement released. “The financing for the project is based on the principles of limited recourse project financing, with the senior debt structured as a soft mini perm facility with a tenor of 28 years and both conventional as well as Islamic tranches.”

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The lenders are Mizuho Bank, Ltd, Riyad Bank, Korea Development Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation, and Standard Chartered Bank.

ACWA Power said the solar plant, which will sell power at a price of $0.01239/kWh, will be the first built under the renewable energy program run by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns a 50% interest in the energy company itself. When completed it will be one of the largest single-contracted solar PV plants in the world.

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Source: pv magazine