Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), the principal buyer of electricity in the kingdom, has announced that it has kicked off the qualification process for the third round of gas-fired independent power producer (IPP) projects across the country.

The qualification follows the successful implementation of SPPC’s earlier conventional IPP procurement rounds. Round 1 comprised the Taiba 1, Taiba 2, Qassim 1, and Qassim 2 Independent Power Projects, while Round 2 included the Rumah 1, Rumah 2, Nairyah 1, and Nairyah 2 Independent Power Projects.

Each project has a planned generation capacity of 1,800 MW, significantly contributing to the Kingdom’s expanding power generation portfolio and supporting growing electricity demand.

Through these successive procurement rounds, SPPC continues to advance Saudi Arabia’s electricity sector transformation by attracting international and local private investment, strengthening generation capacity, and supporting the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Energy Strategy.

The projects will be developed under the build-own-operate (BOO) model, with winning developer consortiums retaining full ownership of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) established to finance, develop, own, operate and maintain the plants. Each SPV will sign a long-term power purchase agreement with SPPC.

The third round is part of the kingdom's broader plan to increase private investment in electricity generation while supporting its transition to lower-carbon power production through more efficient gas-fired generation and future carbon capture readiness.-TradeArabia News Service