RIYADH: China-based clean power firm Sungrow has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia-based power generation company ACWA Power to supply an energy storage system for NEOM city, according to a statement.
Under the terms of the MoU, Sungrow will provide a 536 megawatt/600 megawatt-hour facility for the Giga project.
In addition to this, Sungrow and ACWA Power also signed a strategic cooperation agreement in an attempt to encourage collaboration between China and the Kingdom in the clean energy industry.
This will also raise the contribution of both countries to the Belt and Road Initiative and the Saudi Vision 2030 respectively.
Sungrow already has a presence in the Gulf as it previously provided inverters for a number of solar photovoltaic projects in the region.
Among the projects that Sungrow has participated in are the 1.6 GW Sudair project in the Kingdom, the 800 MW Al-Kharsaah project in Qatar, a 900 MW project in Dubai, as well as a 1.5 GW photovoltaic solar project in Abu Dhabi.
Founded in 1997, Sungrow is committed to providing clean power for all and is steadfast in its efforts to become the global leader in clean power conversion technology.
Earlier this year, in April, ACWA Power and its partners kicked off the construction work at the world's largest green hydrogen project in NEOM.
The partners announced a limited notice to proceed with a $900 million contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the project, according to a bourse filing by ACWA Power.
Paddy Padmanathan, CEO of ACWA Power, told Arab News in an interview last year that the project will be a game-changer for the Kingdom and the company as it will help ACWA expand into the green hydrogen business once it’s completed.
The facility is anticipated to be powered by 4 GW of renewable power from onshore solar, wind, and storage.
NEOM is a pillar of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and is being precisely constructed with a foundation that serves nine specialized investment sectors: energy, biotech, food, mobility, advanced manufacturing, technological and digital sciences, tourism, media, and entertainment; all sectors strategically designed to attract international investment, and all part of a grand push to diversify Saudi Arabia’s oil-centric economy.
The deal between Sungrow and ACWA Power comes just days after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Kingdom saw the signing of 35 investment agreements involving organizations from the two countries.
The deals covered a range of sectors, including green energy, technology and cloud services, and were worth about $30 billion, and come as China seeks to shore up its COVID-19-hit economy and the Kingdom continues to diversify its economic and political alliances in line with Vision 2030.
