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Renewable Vision

Saudi Renewables Tracker · captive and corporate

Ma'aden Solar I (solar steam)

A 1,500 MWth industrial solar heat project at Ras Al Khair, Eastern Province. Stage: Announced.

Saudi Renewables Tracker

The record

What the sources publish for this project

Capacity
1,500 MWthThermal capacity; not added to any electrical total.
Technology
Solar heat for industryEnclosed-trough solar steam for the alumina refinery; heat, not electricity
Stage counted on this site
AnnouncedAs published: “Under development; a technology showcase is the first stage” (GlassPoint)
Owners and developers
Shares as the owners publish them; a company without a share has not published one
Supplies
Ma'aden
Operation and maintenance
GlassPoint
Arrangement
Corporate power purchase agreement
Country
Saudi Arabia
Location
Ras Al Khair, Eastern ProvinceLocality and region only; plant coordinates are not published

GlassPoint builds, owns and operates the plant and sells the steam to Ma'aden (GlassPoint). No construction date for the full plant has been published.

Sources

Where each figure comes from

PublisherPublicationPublishedRead onKind
GlassPointMa'aden Solar IUndated24 September 2026Procurer, developer or owner

Solar and wind resource

The resource at Ras Al Khair

NASA POWER's long-run means for the 0.5° cell that holds the locality: an area-level picture, not a site measurement.

5.36 kWh/m²/day

Global horizontal irradiance

About 1,956 kWh/m² a year

3.94 kWh/m²/day

Direct normal irradiance

5.8 m/s

Wind at 50 m

26.5 °C

Air temperature

Warmest month August, 35.1 °C

Aerosol optical depth: 0.54 · Dustiest month April

Global horizontal irradiance by month, kWh/m²/day
January: 3.50 kWh/m²/dayJanFebruary: 4.22 kWh/m²/dayFebMarch: 5.16 kWh/m²/dayMarApril: 5.72 kWh/m²/dayAprMay: 6.66 kWh/m²/dayMayJune: 7.26 kWh/m²/dayJunJuly: 6.98 kWh/m²/dayJulAugust: 6.70 kWh/m²/dayAugSeptember: 6.04 kWh/m²/daySepOctober: 4.94 kWh/m²/dayOctNovember: 3.68 kWh/m²/dayNovDecember: 3.26 kWh/m²/dayDec
January3.50
February4.22
March5.16
April5.72
May6.66
June7.26
July6.98
August6.70
September6.04
October4.94
November3.68
December3.26

Source: NASA Langley Research Center POWER Project, climatology 2001–2020, public domain; retrieved 2026-09-24. Cell N27.5E49.0, native resolution 1° (CERES SYN1deg). These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program.

See it on the Energy AtlasResource as JSON

Saudi captive and corporate solar, 24 September 2026 (2026-09)