Red Sea Global and global utility major Acwa Power has announced the Project Commercial Operation Date (PCOD) for a utilities project serving The Red Sea destination, thus marking the start of a 25-year concession to operate an integrated system powered entirely by renewable energy.

The project company, Marafiq Red Sea for Energy Co. (MRSEC), signed a Commercial Operation Certificate with Red Sea Utilities Company, a subsidiary of Red Sea Global. MRSEC was established by Acwa Power in partnership with SPIC Huanghe Hydropower and Saudi Tabreed.

Red Sea Global and Acwa Power made the announcement recently for the utilities project serving The Red Sea destination, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The agreement begins a 25-year concession period for the project and marks the start of commercial operations for a fully integrated utilities system that operates without a connection to Saudi Arabia’s national electricity grid.

The system currently supplies hotels operating at The Red Sea destination, Red Sea International Airport, a logistics hub, a fleet of electric vehicles, a staff village and other community and operational facilities.

Developed through a long-term partnership between Red Sea Global and the ACWA Power-led consortium, the project combines five core services in a single system: renewable energy, potable water, wastewater treatment, district cooling and waste management.

Electricity is generated by a 340MW alternating-current solar photovoltaic plant integrated with a battery energy storage system with a capacity of 1,227 megawatt-hours.

The developers said the battery facility is the world’s largest off-grid battery storage system, allowing the destination to continue receiving renewable power after sunset.

The system was designed to meet the destination’s initial energy needs and can be expanded as future phases come online. It is capable of generating up to 760,000MW-hours of clean electricity annually, helping avoid an estimated 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.