Saudi Arabia Begins Commissioning Two-Point-Seven-Nine Gigawatts Of PV Across Mega-Projects

• ACWA Power has started commissioning three mega solar projects in Saudi Arabia, adding 2.79 GW and advancing the kingdom’s clean-energy ambitions.

Saudi Arabia’s solar rollout is stepping up a gear as commissioning begins across three mega-sites totaling 2.79 GW. The projects—developed by leading sponsors with long-term power contracts—mark one of the kingdom’s largest single waves of PV capacity to approach commercial operation at the same time. Early generation is already feeding into the grid as testing moves block by block across tracker fields and inverter stations.

Beyond the headline megawatts, the buildout showcases a maturing delivery machine: standardized designs, bankable components, and construction practices refined in the region’s harsh desert conditions. Elevated tracker rows, dust-resistant inverters, and robust cleaning regimes are central to performance in environments where sand, heat, and wind can erode yields. Operators will watch closely how plant controls respond to grid-code requirements around ride-through, reactive power, and curtailment—areas where early tuning can avoid headaches later.

The strategic logic is straightforward. Solar helps Saudi Arabia meet rising domestic electricity demand while freeing up more hydrocarbons for export. It also lowers the grid’s emissions intensity and anchors a broader industrial policy that includes manufacturing, services, and research tied to clean energy. As more capacity enters the queue, transmission planning and storage are becoming the next bottlenecks to solve—ensuring that daytime surpluses can be moved, shifted, or consumed efficiently.

For lenders and contractors, this moment validates the region’s risk-return profile. Multi-gigawatt procurement, clear offtake, and experienced local partners are bringing down balance-of-plant costs and compressing schedules compared with first-generation sites. The focus now turns to ramp-up: steady progress through provisional acceptance, performance testing under seasonal extremes, and a smooth handover to long-term operations teams.

If the commissioning cadence holds, the three plants will materially lift Saudi Arabia’s installed solar base in 2025 and 2026—another sign that large-scale renewables in the Gulf are shifting from headline announcements to reliable delivery.