EDF, Total among qualified bidders for Saudi 12GWh battery tender

The tender, run by SPPC’s Principal Buyer arm, is the second of its kind in Saudi Arabia. Launched in April, it is seeking companies to deploy six large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects:

1. The 500MW/2,000MWh Samha BESS ISP, Site Location: Qassim province
2. The 500MW/2,000MWh Al-Leeth BESS ISP, Site location: Makkah province
3. The 500MW/2,000MWh Al-Henakiyah BESS ISP, Site location: Madinah province
4. The 500MW/2,000MWh Khulis BESS ISP, Site location: Makkah province
5. The 500MW/2,000MWh Sadawi BESS ISP, Site location: Eastern province
6. The 500MW/2,000MWh Ashyrah BESS ISP, Site location: Makkah province

Qualified bidders were revealed for the first tender, totalling 2GW/8GWh across four projects, in January 2025 though no update has been issued since.

Energy-Storage.news published an ESN Premium feature on the Saudi and UAE markets back in January. Projects covered in that piece, combined with this new tender, mean there is some 77GWh of large-scale BESS under development, procurement or construction in the two countries combined.