Saudi Arabia is building world's largest solar-storage microgrid

Saudi Arabia is building a 400-MW solar microgrid backed by 1.3 GWh of energy storage capacity to ensure clean energy supply for the Red Sea Project on the west coast of the Kingdom.

Located in a 28,000-sq-km area in Tabuk province between the cities of Umluj and Al-Wajh, the project is being developed by Red Sea Global, a company owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The Red Sea Project, touted as the world's largest solar-energy storage microgrid project, utilises Huawei FusionSolar Smart String ESS solution, the company announced in a social media post this week.

“The destination is poised to be the world’s first fully clean energy-powered destination, and Huawei is honored to participate in this project and help Saudi Arabia build a greener and better future through technological innovation,” Alex Xing, president of Huawei Digital Power, Middle East and Central Asia, told Gulf Business.

Riyadh-based developer ACWA Power is leading the construction, engineering, operations, and maintenance of the plants delivering power from renewable sources, water, treating wastewater, providing cooling via district plants, and handling the municipal solid waste with no landfill at the site.

The project is part of the Saudi Vision 2030. By the end of this decade, the Red Sea City is projected to feature 50 hotels with 8,000 rooms and over 1,000 residential properties spread across 22 islands and six inland locations. All facilities will be powered with off-grid renewable energy. The city is designed to accommodate up to one million visitors annually.

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