The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia officially completed grid connection of its landmark 7.8 GWh energy storage project on December 18. Once fully operational, it will become the world’s largest operational battery energy storage system (BESS), marking a new phase in renewable energy development across the Middle East region.
The project spans three sites in southwestern Saudi Arabia—Najran, Khamis Mushait, and Madaya. Each site has a capacity of 2.6 GWh, totaling 7.8 GWh, and is connected to the transmission network at 380 kV. The project is owned by Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), with National Grid SA as the offtaker. Algihaz Holding delivered the project under a full turnkey EPC contract, including operations and maintenance as well as the supply and integration of high-voltage transformer equipment.
Chinese energy storage equipment supplier Sungrow played a pivotal role in the project. In a press release issued on Thursday, the company stated that it completed manufacturing of over 1,500 PowerTitan 2.0 systems in just 58 days and delivered the entire project within a very challenging timeline.
Sungrow signed a supply deal with Algihaz Holding in mid-July 2024. At the time, the order was described as the world’s largest BESS order. The project’s scale, tight delivery schedule, challenging climate conditions, and complex logistics posed significant challenges to implementation.
The PowerTitan 2.0 solution features an all-in-one AC-DC block design that integrates embedded power conversion systems (PCS), pre-assembled battery containers, medium-voltage transformers, ring main units (RMU), and comprehensive factory testing. This modular configuration significantly reduced onsite installation time. Sungrow also deployed a dedicated local service team in Saudi Arabia to support installation, commissioning, and grid connection activities.
Designed as a grid-forming system, the BESS provides advanced grid services including black-start capability, virtual inertia, fast frequency response, and voltage support, thereby strengthening system stability and enabling higher penetration of renewable energy on the Saudi transmission network.
According to a LinkedIn announcement by Ahmed Elbaz, Head of BESS Execution at Algihaz Holding, the 7.8 GWh project was completed approximately five months ago. The project not only represents a major advance for renewable energy deployment in the Middle East but also stands as the largest BESS project in the world to date.
Driven by Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia continues to scale up its renewable energy and storage ambitions at pace. Speaking earlier this week at the 13th Saudi Smart Grid Conference, Assistant Minister of Energy for Electricity Affairs Nasser Al-Qahtani said the Kingdom has a renewable energy project pipeline of nearly 64 GW, of which 12.3 GW has already been connected to the national grid.
In parallel, Saudi Arabia has 30 GWh of battery energy storage capacity under development, with 8 GWh already grid-connected, including the massive 2 GWh Bisha BESS, which came online in January. These projects, Al-Qahtani noted, play a critical role in enabling the grid to balance real-time supply and demand fluctuations arising from the variable nature of renewable energy generation.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy has formulated a battery energy storage project plan of 24 GWh from 2024 to 2025, with 2 GWh released in 2023, 6 GWh in the first half of 2024, and four projects totaling 8 GWh currently under execution. An additional five projects totaling 10 GWh are planned for bidding in the second half of 2024. The Kingdom’s ambitious storage deployment plan provides vast market opportunities for Chinese energy storage companies.
As Saudi Arabia continues to advance its energy transformation, Sungrow and other Chinese energy storage technology companies are playing an increasingly important role in the Middle East market, helping the region achieve its clean energy goals.
