Companies mentioned: Taqnia

CPV News Brief 5  - 19 August 2014

Saudi Arabia opens for 6MW of CPV tenders

Taqnia, a technology development and investment company owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, the investment arm of the Saudi government, has sent out an RFP on August 1st for the EPC of 6MW CPV projects in Saudi Arabia. Proposals must be submitted by September 15, 2014, and the evaluation of the proposals will be completed by September 30.

The 6 MW will comprise a 1 MW CPV plant near the Solar Village, located just outside Riyadh and home to one of the world's first CPV installations built in 1983, and a 5 MW plant in Tai'f city, southwest of Riyadh. Both locations have excellent DNI levels. The projects will solely utilize triple-junction CPV cells from Solar Junction, an American CPV startup that was recently acquired by Taqnia. The CPV contract will also include one year of O&M.

According to the RFP, TAQNIA intends to develop, construct, and operate CPV solar plants in the Kingdom, and it wants to determine which CPV systems are most suitable for use with Solar Junction cells to achieve best project economics, in terms of Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR).

TAQNIA intends to solely use Solar Junction cells in its CPV projects; hence this Request for Budgetary Proposal (RFBP) is sent to selected CPV companies with the purpose of evaluating their budgetary proposals for completely installed CPV systems using Solar Junction cells.

The proposed solar power plants shall have a combined capacity of 6 MW AC, which the bidders are invited to submit budgetary proposals to meet all of that capacity, or to meet a portion of this capacity, according to research. As a guiding principle, each bidder should submit a Budgetary Proposal for the maximum amount (up to 6MW) that they wish to install. This is a first project of its type in KSA, and the intention is to use these initial Solar Plants for evaluation of different CPV systems, with the goal of identifying CPV Contractors for future, larger scale projects.

The decision of whether there shall be one or more CPV Contractors for this project, shall be determined solely by the owner, based on the received proposals, and on the strategic interests of the Owner in pursuing one or more CPV systems. However, it is currently expected that multiple CPV Contractors will be selected.

Because the intention of this Project is to evaluate how the CPV systems work and how they are installed, including the use of Solar Junction cells, it is required that the CPV Contractors collaborate with Solar Junction, and be willing to consider making changes based on Solar Junction recommendations that aim to increase the system’s output. Optimizing the optical coupling between the CPV system’s optics and the solar cell is key towards achieving that optimization.

It is desired, according to the RFP, to have the Solar Plant constructed and commissioned as quickly as possible in 2015; however, consideration will also be given for construction and commissioning on a longer timescale, if there is a significant advantage for doing so. Each Bidder is requested to state the approximate schedule they can meet in their Budgetary Proposal.