Saudi Arabia's Red Sea 340MW PV + 1227MWh Energy Storage System Achieves Full Commercial Operation

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 6, the Red Sea Integrated Utilities Project, led by ACWA Power, officially reached its Commercial Operation Date. The project company, Marafiq Red Sea for Energy Company, signed the Commercial Operation Certificate with Red Sea Utilities Company, a subsidiary of Red Sea Global, marking the simultaneous entry into commercial service of five major systems—power, water supply, wastewater treatment, district cooling, and waste management—and officially commencing the 25-year concession period. The project was jointly developed by ACWA Power, in partnership with China's State Power Investment Corporation Yellow River Company and Saudi Tabreed.

The project's energy system consists of a 340MWac photovoltaic power plant and a 1227MWh battery energy storage system, which is not connected to Saudi Arabia's national grid and can provide round-the-clock power to the entire Red Sea tourism destination. ACWA Power stated that this is currently one of the world's largest off-grid battery energy storage facilities and the first case in Saudi Arabia where all utility systems in a mega-scale development project operate entirely on renewable energy on a commercial basis. The system currently covers all operational hotels of Red Sea Global, Red Sea International Airport, logistics centers, the electric mobility fleet, employee communities, and supporting public facilities.

The project can supply approximately 760,000 MWh of clean electricity annually, and at full capacity is expected to reduce approximately 600,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The energy storage system provides power during nighttime and periods of low PV output, enabling the entire destination to maintain continuous operation without support from the national grid. The existing capacity is configured according to the initial load of the Red Sea project; as more hotels and tourism facilities come online, the integrated utilities platform can be further expanded.

In addition to the solar and storage system, the project also includes three seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants, with a total freshwater treatment capacity of up to approximately 32,500 cubic meters per day; the wastewater treatment facility has a design capacity of approximately 16,000 cubic meters per day, with treated water used for irrigation of landscape nurseries and the Shura Links golf course. The district cooling system has a capacity of 32,500 refrigeration tons, currently providing centralized cooling to hotels and the airport. Waste treatment facilities are also included under the same 25-year concession framework.

The project previously reached financial close in February 2022, securing approximately US$1.33 billion in senior debt financing, with a total investment scale of approximately US$1.84 billion. Financing was provided jointly by Saudi and international banks. The project adopts a long-term utility concession model, under which Red Sea Global does not directly invest in the construction of related facilities but instead purchases electricity, water, cooling, and waste treatment services through long-term offtake agreements.

Engineering and construction were undertaken by SEPCO III as the EPC contractor, with ACWA Operations responsible for long-term operations and maintenance, with the O&M agreement term aligned with the 25-year concession period. The construction phase cumulatively achieved approximately 30 million safe man-hours without lost-time incidents. With the signing of the Commercial Operation Certificate, the project has fully transitioned from the construction and commissioning phase to the long-term operational phase.

From a project structure perspective, the Red Sea project is not a single PV or energy storage plant, but rather an integration of power generation, energy storage, seawater desalination, wastewater treatment, district cooling, and solid waste management into a fully off-grid integrated infrastructure system. Its core engineering model leverages the 340MW PV and 1227MWh energy storage to provide baseline energy supply, while delivering multiple utility services to the tourism destination through a unified concession framework.