Alfanar has revealed plans to set up a ground-mounted PV project to provide power to the Al Jubail 2 water desalination plant on the east coast of Saudi Arabia. It will require an investment of SAR 1.2 billion ($319 million).
The Jubail plant is one of the largest desalination plants in the world, with a production capacity of 1 million cubic meters of water per day. PV is expected to provide electricity to the plant at a lower consumption rate of 2.16 kWh/m3.
Saudi Arabia’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 439 MW at the end of 2021, according to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).