Saudi Renewables Tracker · captive and corporate
Yanbu 4 IWP solar PV
A 11 MW solar PV project at Ar Rayyis, near Yanbu, Madinah. Stage: Operating.
The record
What the sources publish for this project
- Capacity
- 11 MWENGIE's project page gives 11 MW; its 2021 financial-close release gave 20 MW.
- Technology
- Solar PVPhotovoltaic plant built into a 450,000 m³ a day seawater reverse-osmosis plant
- Stage counted on this site
- OperatingAs published: “The water project reached its commercial operation date in April 2024” (Mowah)
- Financial close
- March 2021
- Commercial operation
- April 2024
- Operation date, stated target
- Q4 2023
- Owners and developers
- ENGIE (owner, developer; 40%)
- Nesma Renewables (owner; 30%)
- Mowah (owner; 30%)
- Supplies
- The Yanbu 4 desalination plant it is built into
- Arrangement
- Built into the plant it supplies
- Country
- Saudi Arabia
- Location
- Ar Rayyis, near Yanbu, MadinahLocality and region only; plant coordinates are not published
Modelled output
Estimated annual generation
21
GWh a year
21.4%
Capacity factor
6.3% of the modelled output of this tracker’s operational solar projects.
- Fixed at the optimal tiltCounted here21 GWh21.4%1,878 kWh per kWp
- Single-axis tracker26 GWh26.7%2,335 kWh per kWp
Yield read at the centre of Yanbu, rounded to 0.1°. Mounting assumed: plants of 50 MW and more on single-axis trackers, smaller ones fixed.
Annual kWh per kWp from PVGIS for crystalline silicon with 14% system loss, multiplied by the capacity as the source states it and taken as peak. A plant rated in MWac carries more DC capacity, so its estimate runs low.
Tracker totals, modelled
| Stage | Projects | Capacity, MW | GWh a year | Capacity factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operational | 6 / 7 | 173 | 329 | 21.7% |
| Contracted | 3 / 4 | 72 | 131 | 20.7% |
| Observed | 0 / 1 | 0 | 0 | — |
Solar yield: PVGIS 5.2 (PVGIS-SARAH2), European Commission, Joint Research Centre. © European Union. Estimate as JSON
Sources
Where each figure comes from
| Publisher | Publication | Published | Read on | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGIE Middle East | Yanbu 4 IWP - Yanbu International Water Company | Undated | 24 September 2026 | Procurer, developer or owner |
| ENGIE Middle East | ENGIE in Saudi Arabia reaches financial close on Yanbu-4 IWP | 21 March 2021 | 24 September 2026 | Procurer, developer or owner |
| Mowah | Yanbu-4 IWP reached Commercial Operation Date in 2024 | 2024 | 24 September 2026 | Procurer, developer or owner |
Where sources disagree
Both readings, and the one counted
Capacity
- 20 MW — ENGIE Middle East
- 11 MW — ENGIE Middle East
Counted on this site: 11 MW
Why: The developer's current project page, published after the plant was built; the 20 MW figure dates from financial close.
Solar and wind resource
The resource at Yanbu
NASA POWER's long-run means for the 0.5° cell that holds the locality: an area-level picture, not a site measurement.
6.18 kWh/m²/day
Global horizontal irradiance
About 2,256 kWh/m² a year
5.92 kWh/m²/day
Direct normal irradiance
5.1 m/s
Wind at 50 m
28.1 °C
Air temperature
Warmest month August, 34.5 °C
Aerosol optical depth: 0.32 · Dustiest month May
| January | 4.46 |
|---|---|
| February | 5.30 |
| March | 6.40 |
| April | 7.12 |
| May | 7.50 |
| June | 7.84 |
| July | 7.58 |
| August | 7.04 |
| September | 6.42 |
| October | 5.62 |
| November | 4.72 |
| December | 4.16 |
Source: NASA Langley Research Center POWER Project, climatology 2001–2020, public domain; retrieved 2026-09-24. Cell N24.0E38.0, 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.
Saudi captive and corporate solar, 24 September 2026 (2026-09)