(Yicai) Sept. 21 -- A consortium led by Chinese solar power plant developer and operator Jinko Power Technology has secured the contract to construct a 400-megawatt photovoltaic power station in the deserts of northern Saudi Arabia at a cost of USD315 million.

Jinko Power’s Hong Kong unit and partners submitted the most competitive Levelized Cost of Energy bid, the Shanghai-based firm said yesterday. They will build the PV plant in the Al Jouf region with a peak power output of 450 MW under the build-own-operate model. It is one of the projects up for grabs in the Middle Eastern country’s fourth bidding event for renewable energy projects.

The facility, which will be located in the sun-drenched deserts close to the city of Tabarjal, will generate around 1.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year on average, Jinko Power said. 

The firm will raise the funds to build the plant through bridge loans and other means, it added. Construction should take 21 months, the pay-off period is around 14 years and it will retain operating rights for 30 years.

In a separate statement yesterday, Jinko Power said its Hong Kong unit plans to raise up to CNY1 billion (USD137 million) by issuing senior unsecured offshore yuan-denominated bonds with a term of less than three years and that the funds secured will be used to invest in overseas projects and repay debts. It is not clear if some of these funds will go towards the Saudi Arabian project.

Jinko Power was operating 5.7 gigawatts of solar power stations worldwide as of the end of last year, with 3.6 GW of which are self-owned. The firm’s sister company Jinko Solar is the world’s second-largest maker of solar panels.

Jinko Power’s share price [SHA: 601778] closed down 0.27 percent at CNY3.64 (USD0.50) today. Earlier in the day it gained nearly 2 percent.

Editor: Kim Taylor