China Power Construction Hydroelectric Development Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sinohydro") has officially signed an EPC general contract with Saudi Arabia's Power Tower company to undertake the construction of the Afif 1 solar power plant overhead transmission line project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The implementation of this supporting project marks the full chain deep participation of Chinese enterprises in the 2.4GW large-scale photovoltaic project in Saudi Arabia, and also adds a key layout for China's infrastructure forces to deeply cultivate the renewable energy infrastructure market in the Middle East.

The Afif 1 solar power plant is a core project in Saudi Arabia's renewable energy sector, with a total installed capacity of 2.4GW. Its construction progress is directly related to the pace of the local new energy industry layout. The overhead transmission line project that China Hydropower won the bid for this time, as an important supporting link of the photovoltaic power station, undertakes the core function of power transmission and is a key project to ensure efficient energy utilization after the power station is put into operation. The EPC general contract signed by both parties covers the entire process of engineering design, equipment procurement, and construction, fully testing the comprehensive technical strength and project management ability of the enterprise in the field of overseas power transmission engineering.This cooperation is not the first time that China Power Construction and Saudi Arabia have joined hands on new energy projects. Previously, a subsidiary of China Power Construction successfully won the bid for the main project of the Afif solar photovoltaic power station worth 1.65 billion US dollars. This time, China's hydropower is connected to the transmission supporting project, forming a full participation pattern of Chinese enterprises in the "main construction+supporting transmission" of the project. This layout not only realizes the collaborative linkage of internal business of China Power Construction, but also demonstrates the upgrading ability of Chinese infrastructure enterprises in overseas large-scale new energy projects from single project construction to full industry chain services.

From an industry perspective, this signing is a further expansion of the new energy cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, and an important breakthrough for China's infrastructure forces in the Middle East transmission engineering field. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has accelerated its energy transformation and vigorously laid out renewable energy projects such as photovoltaics and wind power, providing a broad market space for global infrastructure enterprises. By leveraging its technological accumulation in the field of transmission engineering and overseas project experience, China Hydropower has won the order, which not only solidifies Power Tower's layout in Saudi Arabia's renewable energy infrastructure, but also further confirms the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in the Middle East's new energy supporting infrastructure market.

As a core subsidiary of China Power Construction Corporation, Sinohydro has rich technical reserves and overseas project experience in new energy projects and supporting transmission fields such as hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaics. The construction of the Afif 1 photovoltaic power station transmission project in Saudi Arabia this time is another important practice of the enterprise in the field of overseas new energy supporting transmission after hydropower projects. It will further enrich its overseas new energy project layout and accumulate valuable experience for the subsequent development of the global new energy infrastructure market.

The implementation of the Afif 1 photovoltaic project transmission project has become another vivid example of China Saudi Arabia energy cooperation. As Chinese enterprises move from single link participation to full chain layout in Middle East new energy projects, Chinese infrastructure technology and standards will also be more widely exported through project cooperation. In the future, relying on the comprehensive advantages in new energy engineering construction, supporting infrastructure and other fields, Chinese enterprises are expected to continue to create more benchmark projects for Chinese funded cooperation in the energy transformation process in the Middle East, promoting the development of new energy cooperation between China, Saudi Arabia and even China and the Middle East to a deeper and broader level.Editor/Bian Wenjun