French power giant EDF plans to increase its renewable energy developments in Saudi Arabia and the UAE by at least 5 gigawatts of capacity.
“The Middle East is a strategic area for EDF Renewables, and ultimately for the EDF Group. We have currently secured 4 GW of projects in the Middle East and Africa, and we have a pipeline of 5 additional GW in the Middle East,” Olivier Bordes, EDF Middle East’s Managing Director, said.
EDF’s portfolio consists of 14 GW of renewable assets worldwide, and the Middle East is one of the large contributors to the business in the upcoming years.
Projects already under construction include the Dhafra PV2 solar project in Abu Dhabi, which gas a power capacity of 2 GW, and is the largest single site PV (photovoltaic) project in the world, contributing to the UAE’s shift to sustainable renewable energy.
Another development is EDF’s first PV project in the Kingdom — a 300 MG PV solar power plant in Jeddah. This is progressing thanks to a consortium led by EDF Renewables, Masdar and Nesma Company.
The projects are expected to start operating by late 2022.
“Partnership is a key factor for success. We have partners to develop our market in the region, particularly in the UAE and in KSA,” Bordes added.
“The Middle East program has ambitious targets. One of the main challenges is to continue to accelerate development to reach the energy transmission targets, while ensuring EDF’s quality and durable design, mitigating potential outages and maintenance requirements.”
EDF recently won a stake at the $3.6 billion project to develop and operate a transmission system alongside ADNOC and TAQA.
A first-of-its-kind sub-sea transmission network to decarbonize the offshore production of ADNOC, supporting the UAE’s ‘Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.’
The EDF Group has developed energy services around district cooling and energy efficiency. All the value chain is covered, to change the energy mix and achieve carbon neutrality.
“We believe that the best energy is the one that is not consumed. The energy mix is changing. In the coming decade, the objectives announced by countries in the region are in terms of development of renewable energy in GW, namely 60 GW for KSA,” Laurent Cl?ment, CEO and Managing Director of EDF Middle East, added.