Dumat Al Jandal, the largest wind farm in the Middle East, has been successfully connected to the grid in Saudi Arabia and has started producing electricity to power 70,000 homes and save 988,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Dumat Al Jandal is the largest wind farm in the Middle East and the first in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The 400-megawatt wind power project was developed by a consortium led by EDF Renewables and Masdar and consists of 99 Vestas wind turbines with a capacity of 4.2 MW each. Construction began in September 2019 and the erection of the wind turbines is now almost complete.
Olivier Marchand, Project Director of Dumat Al Jandal Wind Co for Energy LLC stated: “We are delighted to start the early power production of this unique large-scale wind project in KSA – Dumat Al Jandal wind farm. The outstanding commitment shown by our teams and contractors with the implementation of the highest health and safety standards and the full support provided by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Energy, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPCC) and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) have contributed to the successful execution of the project during this extremely challenging pandemic period. We are now looking forward to successfully reaching, with our partners and contractors, the full commissioning of the project in the months to come.”
Olivier Bordes, CEO of EDF Renewables Middle East, added: “It is an honor to contribute to the Kingdom’s energy transition with the start of the production of Dumat Al Jandal wind farm, the most powerful in the Middle East. This major step clearly demonstrates our ability to deliver competitive, innovative, and low-carbon energy solutions and to support the Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aiming to reduce the country’s carbon footprint. We are thriving to expand renewable energies in KSA and the GCC region to fight together the global climate change, in line with EDF’s CAP 2030 strategy aiming to double its net installed capacity from 28 GW to 60 GW between 2015 and 2030.”
The wind farm also contributes to economic activity in the region, having created more than 600 local jobs during the construction phase. Dumat Al Jandal will supply electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Saudi Power Procurement Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), the Saudi power generation and distribution company.
