Saudi Arabia Awards SAR 4.35bn First Battery Storage Deals

The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) has signed four Storage Service Agreements for the kingdom's first group of large-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects, with total capital investment exceeding SAR 4.35 billion. The deals mark the country's first move into grid-scale battery storage.

The four projects deliver a combined 2,000 MW of capacity over four hours, equal to 8,000 MWh of energy storage. Each of the four plants is standardized at 500 MW / 2,000 MWh with a four-hour storage duration. One of the awarded facilities is the Al Khushaybi BESS in the Qassim Region, rated at 500 MW / 2,000 MWh and awarded to a consortium of an international developer and a local Saudi partner.

All four are developed under the Build-Own-Operate model, with project companies holding 100% equity in special purpose vehicles that own and operate the assets. They are procured as Independent Storage Provider facilities, structurally similar to Independent Power Producer schemes but dedicated to grid-scale storage. The Storage Service Agreements run for 15 years, during which SPPC pays contracted service fees for availability and performance of the storage capacity.

The SAR 4.35+ billion figure reflects total capital investment value, not a per-project or per-MWh tariff; detailed storage service fees and exact pricing per kW/kWh have not been publicly disclosed.

For residents, large-scale battery storage strengthens the reliability of the national grid, helps smooth peaks in electricity demand, and supports the wider push toward renewable energy under the kingdom's long-term plans. Further rounds are planned, including a larger 3 GW / 12,000 MWh batch in 2026, with qualification and submissions handled electronically through the dedicated SPPC procurement portal rather than public e-government platforms.

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