Saudi Arabia's state-owned single buyer, the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), has prequalified 27 local and international companies to bid for its second round of utility-scale battery energy storage projects — six Independent Storage Provider (ISP) projects totalling 3 GW/12 GWh, each rated 500 MW/2,000 MWh with four hours of discharge. The qualification round, launched in late April 2026, closed on 5 May, with the 27-strong shortlist announced on 30 June 2026.
But the shortlist is only half the story. The first round — the one this tender is scaling up — has just delivered its answer, and it tells suppliers and investors exactly how Saudi storage gets built and who gets paid.
SPPC's storage program began in November 2024 with a qualification round for 2 GW/8 GWh across four projects, each structured the same way: build-own-operate, 500 MW / 2,000 MWh, four hours. The criteria were deliberately selective — US$100 million minimum tangible net worth for managing entities, US$50 million for technical partners. In January 2025, 33 companies made the shortlist, including Masdar, ACWA Power, EDF and TotalEnergies, alongside nine Chinese entrants.
The awards came on 20 August 2026, at a ceremony in Riyadh attended by Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman — the first-ever build-own-operate storage contracts awarded through a Saudi government tender, worth more than SAR 4.35 billion (about US$1.16 billion), each backed by a 15-year Storage Services Agreement with SPPC as Principal Buyer. Saudi Energy, ACWA Power and contractor Al Sharif took three of the four projects — Haden and Al-Muwayh in Makkah province and Al-Kahfah in Hail — while Engie, partnered with Saudi services group Haji Abdullah Alireza, won Al-Khushaybi in Qassim, an investment Engie put at around US$220 million. L&T separately disclosed 6 GWh of Middle East BESS EPC contracts widely understood to cover the ACWA consortium's trio. The 15-year SSA term that round two bidders are pricing against is no longer a precedent — it is the market's observable clearing price.
| Milestone | Date | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 launched | November 2024 | Qualification opens for 2 GW / 8 GWh, four 500 MW / 2,000 MWh BOO projects |
| Round 1 shortlist | January 2025 | 33 companies prequalified, including nine Chinese entrants |
| Round 1 awards | 20 August 2026 | Four contracts, SAR 4.35bn (~US$1.16bn), 15-year SSAs: Saudi Energy/ACWA/Al Sharif (Haden, Al-Muwayh, Al-Kahfah); Engie/Alireza (Al-Khushaybi) |
| Round 2 launched | Late April 2026 | Qualification opens for 3 GW / 12 GWh, six identical projects |
| Round 2 shortlist | 30 June 2026 | 27 consortia prequalified; awards expected 2027 |
The round-two shortlist reads as a map of who intends to own the kingdom's next 3 GW: Masdar, ACWA Power, EDF, TotalEnergies, Marubeni, Sumitomo, KEPCO and Korea Western Power among international utilities and developers; China Southern Power Grid International, POWERCHINA, SPIC Shanghai Electric Power and China Longyuan Power Group among Chinese entrants; alongside Saudi names such as Alfanar, Nesma Renewable Energy and Saudi Energy Company. Notably, Hefei Gotion High-Tech and Tesla Motors Netherlands qualified exclusively as Technical Members — a cell-and-system supplier posture rather than an ownership play. Equipment procurement follows award, and no suppliers have been disclosed for this round.
The six projects are Samha BESS in Qassim province; Al-Leeth, Khulis and Ashyrah BESS in Makkah province; Al-Henakiyah BESS in Madinah province; and Sadawi BESS in the Eastern Province. Every project will be delivered under the same BOO structure as round one: the winning consortium holds 100% equity in the SPV, which signs a long-term Storage Services Agreement with SPPC. SPPC has not disclosed the SSA term for this round; round one's 15-year contracts are the reference case.
The program is scaling against a market moving even faster than the paperwork. In December 2025, state utility Saudi Electricity Company completed grid connection of a 7.8 GWh BESS portfolio — three 2.6 GWh sites at Najran, Khamis Mushait and Madaya, each connected at 380 kV, delivered by Saudi contractor Algihaz Holding under full turnkey EPC. By July 2026, Saudi Arabia was leading the world in monthly utility-scale battery installations, connecting 2.5 GW / 12.5 GWh in a single month — 37% of global capacity additions — according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
Saudi Arabia targets 48 GWh of installed battery storage by 2030 as part of Vision 2030 and the National Renewable Energy Program's goal of 50% renewables in the power mix. With the first ISP round (2 GW/8 GWh) and the SEC portfolio (7.8 GWh) already committed, this tender moves the pipeline past the halfway mark — and establishes the ISP/SSA structure as the kingdom's standard template for merchant-grade storage investment.
Round-one award details (winners, contract value, 15-year SSA term) cross-checked between Energy-Storage.news and MEES, September 2026. L&T’s 6 GWh award is inferred by the industry press to correspond to the ACWA Power consortium projects; the client has not been officially named. Round-two structure, project list and shortlist names cross-checked across Enerdata, Energetica India, ESS News and CNESA. SEC 7.8 GWh portfolio details corroborated by REGlobal and Construction Review Online.