Construction of Saudi Arabia's first major wind farm hits midway mark.

The Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia has announced that the construction of the Dumat Al Jandal wind farm, the kingdom’s first utility-scale wind farm and the largest in the Middle East, has hit the halfway mark.

Once completed and commercially operational in 2022, the wind farm will potentially supply clean electricity to 70,000 Saudi households and will displace 988,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year, in support of the kingdom’s climate change mitigation goals.

Developed by a consortium led by EDF Renewables and Masdar, Vestas is supplying 99 turbines for the wind farm and they are currently being assembled and installed on site.

Vestas was one of the first companies to introduce wind power in the country in 2013 and is now contributing to Saudi Arabia’s 16GW renewable ambition by 2030.

Located in the Al-Jouf province, 900km north of Riyadh, the Dumat Al Jandal wind farm project was awarded to the consortium by the Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) of the Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources (MEIM) in January 2019.

The wind farm will supply electricity under a 20-year purchase agreement with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), a subsidiary of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC).

Muhamed Bou-Zeid, general manager of Vestas MENA, said: “Our ambition as a sustainable energy solutions provider with a technology leadership in wind power is to co-create a renewable energy hub in Saudi Arabia and for the wider Middle East together with other sustainability leaders in the region.

"We believe that the Dumat Al Jandal wind farm is the first step to diversifying not only the Energy sector but also the Renewable Energy sector by adding wind power into the energy mix and ultimately creating three times more work opportunities for the local talent.”

www.arabianbusiness.com