Saudi Arabia's ENOWA appointed global engineering and project management services company Assystem to conduct a suite of pre-development studies for seven planned solar photovoltaic parks in the Tabuk and Duba regions of the kingdom.

ENOWA is the water and electricity subsidiary of NEOM, the developer of the mega Saudi futuristic city coming up in the country's northwest on the Red Sea.

The solar parks will directly contribute to NEOM's vision to become the world's most advanced renewable energy hub and the first at-scale fully renewable electrical system.

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The sites earmarked to host the solar parks stretch over 420km2, potentially amounting to more than 20GW (accounting for around 65% of land use) in energy generating capacity.

Solar PV is one of the key renewable energy technologies being deployed globally to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Assystem will deploy its experts to provide a range of services, which include a site assessment study, preliminary design of parks and master planning, environmental baseline surveys, an environmental and social impact assessment study, and permitting studies.

Within this scope, various studies such as geotechnical, geophysical, topographical, hydrological, glint and glare, and corrosion assessments, energy yield calculations, and advanced design of the parks will be conducted.

Kerem Sadiklar, Assystem's Global Head of Siting and Environmental Services, said: "This project marks one of the first steps towards realizing the deployment of solar PV on a truly massive scale – directly contributing to NEOM's ambitious 100% renewable energy goal.

"Assystem is dedicated to assisting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in realising its commitment to implementing measures which aim to reduce its emissions by 278 MtCO2e annually from 2020 to 2030."

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