Saudi Arabia signs one of the cheapest wind power PPAs in the world

The state-owned Saudi Power Procurement Company will purchase electricity from two planned wind farms in Saudi Arabia (Al Ghat with 600 MW and Wa’ad Al Shamal with 500 MW) through what are supposed to be the world’s cheapest wind PPAs. At least, this is claimed by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy.

The announced prices are exceptionally low:

• Al Ghat at $15.65/MWh
• Wa’ad Al Shamal at $17.01/MWh

The truth is, these are extremely low prices, although I don’t think the profitability and financing cost criteria are even comparable to those we see in the West. It would also be interesting to know the equivalent hours of the wind farms.

In any case, not everyone agrees that these are the cheapest PPAs in the world, as Philip Totaro has pointed out in this LinkedIn comment, citing some PPAs in the United States.

The Japanese company Marubeni will be responsible for constructing both wind farms.

Sergio Fdez Munguía,

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