Saudi Arabia's first large wind power plant kicks-off power generation

Dumat-al Jandal wind plant consists of 99 Vestas turbines rated 4.2 MW each.

400-megawatt (MW) Dumat al-Jandal wind plant—being developed by UAE clean energy firm, Masdar and France’s EDF Renewables—has started generating power as the first large wind power plant in Saudi Arabia, consisting of 99 Vestas turbines rated 4.2 MW each.

According to a report by Power Technology News, the construction of Dumat al-Jandal started in September 2019 and is nearing completion. Once fully operational, the wind facility will generate enough green energy to power up to 70,000 Saudi households while offsetting 988,000t of carbon emissions a year. 

Further, the report said that the project is expected to create more than 600 local jobs during the construction phase and support Saudi Arabia in its climate change mitigation goals.

Enerdata also reports that Dumat al-Jandal wind plant’s full commissioning is expected before the end of 2021. The project will sell its power generation to the Saudi Power Procurement Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi Electricity Company, under a 20-year power purchase agreement or PPA.