The latest round of tender prices for solar power plants in Saudi Arabia have risen drastically compared to that of early 2021 due to the inflation of solar raw material polysilicon, which clearly indicates the impact of escalating raw material prices on renewable energy.
The Ministry of Energy (Saudi Arabia) has unfolded the third round of renewable energy tenders, which comprises of four solar power plants at a total capacity of 1.2GW (1,200MW), with the largest power plant being the 700MW Ar Rass Plant, followed by the 300MW Saad Plant, and then the Wadi Ad Dawasir Plant and Layla Plant at 120MW and 80MW respectively.
According to the documents on the website of the Ministry of Energy, the quotation from China-based Jinko Energy for the Saad Plant has arrived at US$0.0148/kWh, which is a 40% increase compared to the contract signed in the beginning of the year at US$0.0104/kWh. The price of US$0.0104/kWh was the lowest price back then, and the current price of US$0.0148 is now the lowest.
Other participating businesses also include French petroleum company Total, Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power and Alfanar, as well as the joint venture of UAE developer Masdar and French business EDF.
The cost of polysilicon, used for solar cells, has been increasing exponentially in recent years, where both mono and multi polysilicon had surged again by 21.56% and 14.29% last week. To reflect the relevant cost, mid and downstream wafer, cell, and module prices have comprehensively risen, and certain individuals are worried about the impact on the investment for clean energy.
Despite being the largest exporting country for petroleum in the world who exports tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil daily, Saudi Arabia is also transitioning to solar and wind power, and aims to establish 60,000MW of renewable energy by 2030, which equals all exiting power devices of the country, with most participation coming from private businesses.
(Cover photo is a sketch, source: Flickr/Bureau of Land Management CC BY 2.0)