On November 10, 2026, at the COP31 meeting in Antalya, Türkiye, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Türkiye, Alpaslan Bahitar, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Power Projects with the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz bin Salman, witnessed by President Erdogan of Türkiye.

The memorandum refers to the second phase of ACWA Power's 5000MW renewable energy framework in Türkiye: 3000MW wind power, and it is the first time that ACWA Power has written the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) infrastructure and battery energy storage system into the bilateral cooperation documents.

Saudi capital thus entered the grid infrastructure from Türkiye's power generation assets, and the cooperation category expanded from a single power plant to a combination of "power supply+transmission+energy storage". During the same side event, eight international organizations signed approximately 1.6 billion euros in financing support letters for the first phase of the 2000MW photovoltaic project, and the entire 5GW framework entered a dual track promotion state.

Transmission and energy storage enter the cooperation list for the first time

Memos provide more specific descriptions of technology than capacity. Bayaktar's statement on social media is "a wind power project supported by high-voltage direct current transmission infrastructure and battery energy storage systems", with three landing points: expanding renewable energy installation, strengthening grid infrastructure, and enhancing system flexibility. This means that the second phase is not a replication of the first phase in terms of structure.

The first phase is a pure photovoltaic power generation asset, while the second phase packages power supply, transmission, and energy storage in one document. According to OrePulse, citing Turkish officials, 3000 MW wind power is about 20% of the existing wind power installed in Türkiye. In addition to the scale, Türkiye's power grid has been under pressure at the consumption end for a long time, and HVDC and energy storage have been included in the cooperation list, which means that Saudi funds are directly invested in the most scarce link of the country.  

Phase 1 2GW enters financing stage

The starting point of the entire framework is the intergovernmental agreement signed by Erdogan during his visit to Riyadh on February 3, which came into effect on October 21. The agreement designates ACWA Power as the main investment implementation entity for Saudi Arabia, with a total capacity of 5000MW, to be implemented in two phases. The first phase is located in Ta š eli area of Sivas and Karaman, with 1000MW for each and 2000MW for total photovoltaic power. The long-term power purchase agreement is signed by Türkiye's national power generation company E ∨ A ∨, and the localization rate is not less than 50%.

On November 11th, the Asian Development Bank, AIIB DEG、EBRD、IFC、 The Islamic Development Bank, Societe Generale, and Standard Chartered Bank have signed a letter of support for a project with an investment of approximately 1.6 billion euros, planned to be put into operation in 2029. The simultaneous appearance of eight multilateral and commercial institutions on the support letter list means that the first phase has passed the financing threshold, which is a direct credit support for the implementation of the second phase technology route.Editor/XuNing