SPPC-W4 - Part II - General Technical Specifications
SPPC-W4 - Part II - General Technical Specifications
- PART II General-
Contents
GLOSSARY....................................................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 1
1. SCOPE OF WORKS ......................................................................................................... 2
1.1 General ................................................................................................................................ 2
1.2 Studies and Surveys ............................................................................................................. 3
1.3 Preparatory works on site .................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Solar Arrays Installation ...................................................................................................... 5
1.5 Inverter and Inverter Stations/MV Transformer Stations (if applicable)............................. 5
1.6 Electrical Works .................................................................................................................. 6
1.6.1 Electrical Special Facility (if applicable) ............................................................................ 6
1.6.2 Plant Electrical System Interconnection to Grid.................................................................. 6
1.6.3 Plant’s Auxiliaries Supply ................................................................................................... 6
1.7 I&C and Communication Systems ...................................................................................... 6
1.7.1 General ................................................................................................................................ 6
1.7.2 Signal Exchange and Related Works ................................................................................... 7
1.8 Civil - Mechanical Works.................................................................................................... 8
1.8.1 General Works ..................................................................................................................... 8
1.8.2 PV Field Civil Works .......................................................................................................... 9
1.8.3 Buildings............................................................................................................................ 10
1.8.4 Civil Works for the ESF (if applicable)............................................................................. 10
1.8.5 Electrical and I&C Systems - Civil Works ........................................................................ 10
1.9 Miscellaneous Equipment.................................................................................................. 10
1.10 Inventory............................................................................................................................ 11
1.11 Operation and Maintenance ............................................................................................... 11
1.12 Decommissioning and Dismantling ................................................................................... 11
2. INTERFACES ................................................................................................................. 11
2.1 Category 1 Interfaces ......................................................................................................... 12
2.1.1 Grid Connection ................................................................................................................ 12
2.1.2 Water Supply ..................................................................................................................... 12
2.1.3 Access to Site..................................................................................................................... 12
2.2 Category 2 Interfaces (only in case of ESF) ...................................................................... 12
2.2.1 Grid Connection ................................................................................................................ 12
2.2.2 Water Supply ..................................................................................................................... 13
2.2.3 Access to Site..................................................................................................................... 13
3. SITE DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................................... 14
3.1 General .............................................................................................................................. 14
WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
GENERAL TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
GLOSSARY
AC Alternating Current
AMI Advanced Metering Infrastructure
BOM Bill of Materials
BSP Bulk Supply Points
CCTV Closed Circuit Television/Video Surveillance
CE Connection Equipment
c-Si Crystalline-Silicon
CT Current Transformer
DC Direct Current
DCS Digital Control System
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
ePP electronic Procurement Portal
ECC Essential Cybersecurity Control
ESMP Environmental and Social Management Plan
ESF Electrical Special Facility
ESIA Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
FO Fiber Optic
FOC Fiber Optic Cabling
GHI Global Horizontal Irradiance
GIS Gas Insulated Switchgear
GPS Global Positioning System
HCIS High Commission for Industrial Security
HSE Health, Safety and Environment
HSMP Health and Safety Management Plan
HV High Voltage
HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
I&C Instrumentation and Control
IBC International Building Code
IP International Protection
IPP Independent Power Plant
LAN Local Area Network
LILO Loop In Loop Out
WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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LV Low Voltage
LVRT Low Voltage Ride Through
MUX Multiplexer
MV Medium Voltage
NCA National Cyber security Authority
NFPA National Fire Protection Association
NGSA National Grid Saudi Arabia
NWP Numerical Weather Prediction
OHL Overhead Line
OTE Optic Terminal Equipment
OLTE Optical Line Terminating Equipment
PASS Plant Accounting Settlement System
PCM Pulse Code Modulation
PDA Project Development Agreement
PID Potential Induced Degradation
PNOM Nominal Installed Power Rating
POA Plane of the Array
PTS Particular Technical Specifications
PPA Power Purchase Agreement
RAID Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks
RFP Request for Proposal
SAGC Saudi Arabian Grid Code
SAS Substation Automation System
SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
SEC Saudi Electric Company
SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
SIL Safety Integrity Level
SPDC Saudi Project Development Company
SPM Solar Performance Model
SPPC Saudi Power Procurement Company
TF Thin-film
TMY Typical Meteorological Year
TSP Transmission System Provider
UBC Uniform Building Code
WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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INTRODUCTION
Background
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has set ambitious goals for the expansion of renewable
energy, as part of achieving Vision 2030. In the context of developing such renewable energy
projects and as further described in Part I (Instructions to Bidders) to this RFP, the Saudi Power
Procurement Company is tendering a renewable energy project as follows:
Capacity
Projects ESF
[MWAC]
Haden Solar PV IPP (“Haden”) 2,000 Not applicable
Muwayh Solar PV IPP (“Muwayh”) 2,000 Not applicable
Al Khushaybi PV IPP (“Al Khushaybi”) 1,500 Not applicable
This Part II (Technical Specifications) consists of two separate sets of documents, namely:
• Part II General: The General Technical Specifications applicable for the Solar PV IPP
RFP; and
• Part II Particular: The Particular Technical Specifications.
• Part II CE and PV Interface Room: The SEC specific interface requirements, Connection
Equipment and associated grid interface
Any reference to Part II, shall refer to Part II General, Part II Particular and Part II CE and PV
Interface Room.
To simplify cross-referencing within Part II, the document structure, headings and section
numbering is identical for Part II General and Part II Particular. If it is specified in the document,
that either Part II General or Particular has no content under a specific section number, this was
intentional and confirms that for a given section only general or project specific requirements are
specified. The Bidder is advised to always refer to both, complementary documents, Part II
General & Particular. Should any potential discrepancies be noted between both documents,
Bidder shall seek clarity through clarifications.
Furthermore, should any potential discrepancies related to SEC specific interface requirements be
noted between Part II Particular and Part II CE and PV Interface Room, the requirements in Part
II CE and PV Interface Room shall prevail
Capitalized terms used in this Part II (Technical Specifications) of the RFP shall have the meanings
provided for such terms in Part I (Instructions to Bidder) and the draft PPA included in Part V
(Draft Agreements) of the RFP.
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1. SCOPE OF WORKS
1.1 General
The Project Company is free to design the Plant as they deem appropriate, as long as the design
and performance guarantees comply with this Part II of the RFP and the Form Sheet D of Part IV,
International industry standards as well as all applicable laws and regulations in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
The Project Company shall include in its scope all the equipment, works and services necessary
for the complete, safe and reliable operation and maintenance of the Plant in accordance with the
terms of the PPA, even if certain essential works are not expressly stated in this Part II (Technical
Specifications) or elsewhere in the RFP.
The Project Company is responsible for obtaining all required permits, approvals and licenses
related to the scope of supply and operation.
The work shall be performed according to Good Utility Practice. All equipment shall be new and
manufactured by reputable manufacturers. No used, reconditioned or salvaged equipment or
material will be allowed. All equipment, concepts and construction practices used in connection
with the Project shall be of proven design for the intended use of the equipment under the climate
and environmental conditions of the Site specified in Section 3 of this Part II (Technical
Specifications).
The minimum design lifetime of the Plant shall be for at least 25 years of operation.
For all components adequate maintenance and replacement schedules shall be considered, as
needed, to reach the minimum design lifetime. Special ground treatment to increase the reflection
and albedo value of the ground of the Site is not allowed.
• ensuring that any interim construction or tool necessary to execute the works has been
designed, approved and certified by an appropriate contractor;
• complying with the applicable laws (including environmental laws) during construction
and operation of the Plant;
• ensuring that the environmental impact is reduced to a minimum during construction and
operation of the plant;
• minimizing the impact on neighbors by the construction works as much as reasonably
possible by the Project Company; and
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• obtaining under its own responsibility, all information necessary for the preparation of the
Proposal.
Since SEC will also be undertaking several activities to support the implementation of the Plant
into the Transmission System, the Project Company shall coordinate its activities with SEC,
especially regarding the technical interfaces.
Any approval or comment provided by SPPC in connection with this specification shall not relieve
the Project Company from any liability that it would otherwise have had in respect of or under any
Project Agreement or failure to comply with the applicable requirements of the Project Agreement
with respect thereto. The Bidder should form its own views and make its own investigations,
projections and conclusions and consult its own advisers in order to ascertain the suitability of the
specifications.
The minimum scope of works to be covered by the Project Company shall include but not be
limited to the following Sections.
The Project Company shall develop the complete basic and detail engineering design of the scope
of supply, including acquisition and/or preparation of all technical and interface information
required to complete its scope of work.
As required for the planning, obtaining permits and provision of guarantees according to the PPA,
engineering services and investigations including but not limited to the following shall be
performed:
• On the basis of the review of the topographical survey, geotechnical investigations and
hydrological study, any additional investigations required to serve as a solid basis for the
specification of the works, such as:
o Any further topographic survey, if required;
o Any additional geotechnical surveys, if required;
o Any additional hydrological study;
• Tracker Design Concept (if applicable) in accordance with the requirements set out in
Section 4.19.1 of this Part II;
• Complete design and engineering calculations; and
• Transport
The Bidder is further requested to elaborate in his Proposal concepts for the following:
• Operation and maintenance concept, including but not limited to:
o Operation and Maintenance strategy for the project.
o PV Module cleaning concept including detailed description of the equipment (in
case the Bidder proposes bifacial PV modules a description of the cleaning concept
for the rear side of the PV modules shall be included as well);
o Temperature / climatic conditions management for electrical equipment;
o Equipment warranty and spares management
o Plant Substation O&M;
o Buildings and Facilities’ concept;
o Meteorological Station O&M concept;
o Sand / dust mitigation concept and measures (if applicable);
o Fresh water supply concept for human consumption and plant operation as required;
o Fire fighting concept
o Security concept; and
o HSE management concept.
• Draft Tracker Design Concept (if applicable) in accordance with the requirements set out
in Section 4.19.1 of this Part II including as a minimum a general tracker concept
description incl. safety stow strategy;
• Drainage and water treatment, including concept for rain and stormwater, freshwater and
sewage water, handling of oily and environmentally harmful liquids covering total Plant
area and Site facilities; and
• Corrosion protection concept.
The Project Company shall update an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in
line with the applicable requirements and fully develop respective Environmental and Social
Management Plans (ESMP) for the construction and operational phases. The Project Company
further shall take note of and respect all applicable health, safety and environmental regulations
and guidelines including dress code, housekeeping, covid safety measures and other guidelines for
workers and visitors at the Plant Site. The development of a Health and Safety Management Plans
for construction and operation is required.
Some of the studies and surveys for the realization of the Plant are attached to this RFP for
reference. By no means shall the issuing entity be made responsible for incorrect information
provided within this RFP, and the Bidder is requested to perform its own due diligence on all
provided information and undertake its own studies as required.
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Prior to the start of construction and installation, the Project Company shall undertake all necessary
preparatory works, including:
• Removal of existing buildings and structures, waste/debris, old vehicles and storage tanks
as required;
• Provision of temporary roads and fencing including gates as required; and
• Provision of first aid, site safety and security system for the construction phase.
The scope of supply for the solar arrays installation shall include - but not be limited to - the
following components:
• PV modules;
• PV module string connectors;
• PV module clamps;
• Conduits and terminations;
• DC cables;
• Earthing system and connection;
• Fused DC combiner boxes;
• Surge arrestors, lightning protection;
• Cable strips and tagging;
• Solar array DC ancillary equipment and subcomponents;
The scope of supply shall include - but not be limited to - the following systems and components:
• Inverters;
• Inverter Station/MV transformer stations as applicable;
• DC combiner box - inverter interconnection;
• LV/MV transformers;
• Earthing system and connection;
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• Auxiliary transformers;
• LV, MV and control cabling;
• LV auxiliary distribution board for power, lighting, emergency lighting, fire detection,
HVAC system and ventilation, etc.
The scope of supply shall include a complete plant auxiliary power supply system as per Project
Company’s design, including - but not limited to - the following systems and components:
• MV/LV transformers;
• MV switchgear;
• LV switchgear;
• MV/LV busducts and cables;
• DC and UPS-Systems with batteries; and
• Emergency power supply.
1.7.1 General
The Project Company is free to design the Plant as they deem appropriate, as long as the design
and performance guarantees comply with all minimum requirements specified in this Part II
(Technical Specifications) of the RFP as well as all applicable internationally recognized standards
and codes in their latest edition and follow international engineering good practices.
However, design, control philosophy, redundancy concept, grade of integration, etc. will be subject
to review, comment and approval by the SPPC.
The scope of supply shall include - but not be limited to - the following systems and components:
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• Provision of any required hardware and/or software to fulfill all Cyber Security regulations
according HCIS requirements and international standards such as ISO 27000 series
(especially ISO 27001, ISO 27002 and ISO 27019), IEC 62443 and IEC 62351.
• Internal communication systems (telephone, public address system, LAN/ WAN system);
• GPS-based clock systems;
• Capable to power the SCADA system for at least 6 hours.
• CCTV and surveillance systems in accordance with the HCIS requirements;
• Ergonomic designed control room with required fire detection and HVAC provision;
• Field testing equipment;
• Instrument workshop equipment.
The scope of supply shall include - but not be limited to - the following systems and components:
• Telecommunication systems;
• OLTE/MUX telecom channels provision, programming and routing, including integration
at the Grid Station or the ESF (as applicable) to the existing system as well as teleprotection
equipment;
• Redundant fiber optic cables (FOC) and related redundant telecom equipment (SDH/PCM)
between the Plant and the Grid Station or the ESF (as applicable);
• All necessary works and equipment for a complete Substation Automation System (SAS)
for local and remote SCADA, control, protection, metering, sequence of events recorder
and DMS etc. at the Grid Station or the ESF (as applicable) and to Project Company’s and
to the SPPC’s settlement system;
• Works such as engineering, and engineering documents and data preparation required for
implementation and integration of the Plant as required in the Saudi Arabian Grid Code.
• Preparation and provision of all necessary data and information as well as data transfer as
requested in the Saudi Arabian Grid Code at the defined interface; and
The Project Company shall consider in its scope of work at least the following:
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All equipment for the signal exchange has to be designed and installed according to SEC
requirements detailed in Part II of the RFP, and their corresponding Annexes. These requirements
are mandatory at the ESF/Grid Station and recommended at the PV plant to ensure compatibility.
The related services (e.g. commissioning, end-to-end tests, documentation, etc.) shall follow the
relevant SEC’s requirements. Whenever such relevant SEC requirements do not exist, Project
Company shall propose and seek SEC approval for any system or equipment for signal exchange.
Signal list between the Plant and Grid Station/ Load Dispatch Centers shall be agreed with SEC
during design stage and might be updated from time to time if and when needed to accommodate
for SEC requirements during operation stage.
The scope of work for the civil part shall include - but not be limited to - the works, buildings,
structures, services and systems listed in the following Sections.
All necessary infrastructure, roads, buildings, technical equipment and operation and surveillance
systems required for safe and reliable plant operation are within the scope of work.
The following general works are in the scope of supply of the Project Company:
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• Civil works for service water system and service water storage tanks;
• Stormwater drainage concept and systems, as necessary;
• Wadi flood protection and embankments, as required;
• Civil works for discharging rainwater, surface water and treated waste;
• Complete PV modules cleaning system according to Project Company’s maintenance
concept;
• Sanitary works as necessary, including required piping, pumping stations and maintenance
facilities;
• Clean and recreate the construction sites;
• Repairs of damages of public roads attributable to the Project Company’s use;
• Safety and firefighting systems within buildings, transformer stations, substation and
wherever required and necessary; and
• Buildings, Storage area and other facilities according to the Project Company’s
maintenance concept.
Bidder shall design and implement the drainage system within the Site. The drainage system shall
be designed such as it has no harmful impact on any surrounding facilities or developments located
downstream of the project area. The hydrological study provided for information only in Annex
1.5 of Part III provides preliminary recommendations which may be taken into consideration by
the Bidder during the preparation of its proposal. Bidder shall supply with its proposal a drainage
and water treatment solution, including concept for rain and stormwater, freshwater and sewage
water, handling of oily and environmentally harmful liquids covering total Plant area and Site
facilities.
The Project Company will be responsible for repairing the damages to the public roads caused by
the Project Company, as well for any repair or upgrade of the public roads required by the Project
Company for the safe delivery and access of the equipment and materials on the Project Site. The
Bidder shall perform its own investigation to determine the need for upgradation of the public
roads to the Project Site, as well as consider any required works when preparing its Implementation
Schedule.
The scope of the PV module mounting structures shall include at least the following:
• Supply and assembly of suitable ground mounted substructures for PV modules, including
foundations and required mechanical parts and equipment to attach the PV modules and
ancillary equipment; and
• Appropriate measures, as required, to protect the structure and foundation against corrosion
for the expected lifetime of the Plant.
If Inverter stations/MV transformer stations are considered, the Project Company shall consider the
following:
1.8.3 Buildings
The Project Company’s scope of work shall include buildings required by local regulation, the
Saudi Arabian Grid Code or SEC (whichever is applicable and most stringent) for the operation
of the plant. Buildings as considered by the Project Company in its technical and operations
concept for the Plant (e.g. control room, offices rooms, workshop, storage, sanitary facilities,
service rooms or electrical rooms) shall include air conditioning and ventilation systems.
The scope of work includes all civil works and structures for buildings, electrical and I&C systems,
structures and installations for:
• Control Rooms;
• I&C equipment;
• HV/MV transformers;
• MV/LV transformers;
• MV/LV switchgear;
• Power and control cabling;
• Meteorological Stations; and
• Underground cable ducts and cable channels, , and above ground cable trays and bridges.
The Project Company shall be responsible for supplies of equipment not specifically mentioned
above, but necessary for the reliable operation and maintenance of the Plant, including tools,
service vehicles and fork-lifts, if needed, cranes, lifting equipment, special tools, workshop,
storage and office equipment.
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1.10 Inventory
The Project Company shall be responsible for supplies of mechanical, electrical and I&C
equipment not specifically mentioned above, but necessary for the reliable operation and
maintenance of the Plant, such as consumables and spare parts for commissioning, testing and for
normal operation during the Plant’s operational lifetime.
The Project Company shall operate and maintain the Plant for a period of 25 years.
For the qualified operation and services, the Project Company shall monitor the Plant either from
the control room inside the control and administration building at site or by a remote surveillance
system from a surveillance center.
The Project Company shall plan and provide all services, spare parts, consumables and wear and
tear parts as well as all required maintenance services and provision of required equipment and
tools to perform these services required to fulfill the Project Company’s Plant Performance
Guarantees and availability during the operation period, the required services include but are not
limited to:
Project Company is responsible for the complete decommissioning, dismantling and disposal of
the Plant and restoration of the area including all associated facilities as per PPA requirements,
following the expiration of the PPA Term.
2. INTERFACES
“Interfaces” mean the responsibility limit at which the Project Company’s interconnection
facilities and other Plant facilities meet. The interfaces categories for the Project are described
below:
Category 1: “Interfaces” for Category 1 mean the physical points at which the Project
Company’s interconnection facilities and other facilities meet and which shall be
considered by the Project Company during Project development, construction and
O&M phase over the term of the PPA.
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The Project Company shall actively clarify all interface requirements with NGSA/SEC, the
municipality or any entity responsible for an interface. Interoperability of the Plant shall be
ensured. Further, the Project Company shall provide all required hardware and software
installations of the interface up to the interface point subject to the co-operation of all involved
parties.
The Project Company shall provide with its Proposal a complete and detailed description of the
interfaces reflecting the requirements listed below. During project execution, the Project Company
is obliged to coordinate the interfaces to other facilities / with other parties in cooperation with the
respective counterpart.
Further details are provided in the following section and in Annex 3.1, Annex 4.1 to Annex 4.3
and Annex 5.8 of Part III (Technical Appendices) of the RFP.
The Project Company shall coordinate directly with the local water distribution company on all
matters regarding accessibility of water and fees.
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3. SITE DESCRIPTION
3.1 General
The Bidder is responsible for its own investigations to establish sufficient and accurate information
for the design of the Plant.
The Bidder is encouraged to visit the proposed site for the Plant and shall ascertain the nature and
location thereof and all conditions which may affect the design / layout of the Plant and the Plant
costs in accordance with the procedures as set forth in Part I (General Instructions to Bidder).
The Bidder shall make its own assessment of all the information provided in this RFP including
this Part II (Technical Specifications). Neither SPPC, NGSA/SEC nor any Government
Instrumentality or other entity nor any representatives or advisors to the Government are
responsible for the accuracy or completeness of any such information.
3.2 Location
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In addition to the technical requirements of this Section, the selection of the Main Equipment and
the Plant layout are determined by the site conditions as referred to in Section 3 of Part II.
The Plant shall be designed, manufactured, erected and configured in such a way that it will
achieve high availability, performance and reliability with minimum power generation costs.
All parts of the Plant shall be suitable in every respect for a maximum efficient use of the Site
under the anticipated operation conditions as well as the ambient conditions and environmental
restrictions which are characteristic for the Site.
Moreover, the Plant shall comply with all requirements included in the Environmental and Social
Impact Assessment.
The Plant design in all phases shall apply a well-established classification and identification
system. The international SI system of units shall be used for the design, drawings, diagrams,
instruments and all technical documentation. All warning and safety labels shall be in Arabic and
English. Should the requirements of this Part II (Technical Specifications) conflict with the
requirements of the codes and standards referenced herein or with the applicable Saudi Arabian
law, standard or local regulations, then the more stringent requirements shall apply.
The Plant shall be designed to operate under the ambient conditions found at the site and as
described in Section 3.3 of this Part II (Technical Specifications) during the entire design lifetime.
Furthermore, the Bidder is free to optimize the installed AC and DC capacity for lowest energy
generation costs and best utilization of the available area.
The Bidder shall guarantee as part of its Proposal the capacity levels and performance guarantees
data as listed in Form Sheet D (Performance Guarantee Data) of Part IV (Form Sheets) of the
RFP.
Inspection and testing minimum requirements are described in Schedule 6 (Testing) to the draft
PPA.
The Project Company shall ensure that the engineering, design, construction, testing, etc. of the
Plant, are according to internationally recognized standards and codes in their latest edition and
follow all applicable requirements of the national and local regulations.
Local building codes of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall be followed with respect to civil works
and buildings.
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The latest editions of the standards, codes, regulations, recommendations and directives issued
by the following organizations shall apply, as a minimum, for the design, construction, testing,
commissioning, operation and maintenance of the Project.
Compliance with individual standards will not guarantee an integrated fit-for-purpose solution.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Bidder to propose and for the Project Company to realize
a solution that is suitable for the site conditions and requirements.
National Standards
ANSI American National Standards Institute
BSI British Standards Institution
DIN Deutsches Institut fuer Normung
EN European Standards
JSA Japanese Standard Association
Recommendations
AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
ACI American Concrete Institute
AGMA American Gear Manufacturers Association
AIJ Architectural Institute of Japan
AISC American Institute of Steel Construction
AISE Association of Iron and Steel Engineers
AISI American Iron and Steel Institute
AMCA Air Moving and Conditioning Association
API American Petroleum Institute
ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers
ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers
ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASTM American Society for Testing Materials
AWS American Welding Society
AWWA American Water Works Association
CIRIA Construction Industry Research and Information Association
HIS Hydraulic Institute Standards
IBC International Building Code
ICE Institution of Civil Engineers
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IES Illuminating Engineering Society
IPCEA Insulated Power Cable Engineers Association
ISA Instrument Society of America
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The design of the Power Units and the Plant shall meet all requirements of the latest version of
the Saudi Arabian Grid Code.
Deviation from this Section 4.4 (Standards and Codes) and the use of any standards and codes
which are not issued by the organization listed above is not acceptable.
Application of subsequent addenda and code cases published after the Effective Date is subject to
agreement between SPPC and the Project Company.
The Bidder shall draw SPPC's attention to any conflict between the requirements of this RFP and
its references. Should the requirements of this RFP conflict with the requirements of the codes and
standards references herein or with the applicable Saudi Arabian law, standards, local regulations
and SPPC’s design specifications, then the more stringent requirements shall apply. Should there
be any difference of opinion with regard to the interpretation of requirements; SPPC shall instruct
the Bidder as to the requirements and the Bidder shall, at its own cost, comply with that instruction.
Amongst others, the following international standards shall apply for the installation, testing and
operation of the Plant and the Electrical Special Facility. Latest versions shall be considered. The
Project Company should consider without limitation the following codes and standards including
all other reference norms and standards mentioned in these norms (normative references):
• General:
o IEC TS 62738: Ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants - Design guidelines and
recommendations
o IEC TS 63049: Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) systems – Guidelines for effective
quality assurance in PV systems installation, operation and maintenance
o IEC 60364 (all applicable parts): Low-voltage electrical installations.
o IEC 61936-1: Power installations exceeding 1 kV A.C. – Part 1: Common rules.
o IEC 60071 (all applicable parts): Insulation co-ordination.
o IEC 60068 (all applicable parts): Environmental testing.
o IEC 60529: Degree of protection provided by enclosures (IP code)
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• PV installation:
o IEC 60364-7-712: RLV: Electrical installations of buildings – Part 7-712:
Requirements for special installations or locations – Solar photovoltaic (PV) power
supply systems.
o IEC 62852: Connectors for DC-application in photovoltaic systems - Safety
requirements and tests.
o IEC TR 63225: Incompatibility of connectors for DC-application in photovoltaic
system
o IEC 60228, 60364-1, 60332-1-2, 60754-1 and -2, 61034-1 and -2.
o EN 50618: Electric cables for photovoltaic systems.
o IEC 62548: Photovoltaic (PV) arrays - Design requirements.
• PV Modules:
o IEC TS 62941: Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Guideline for increased
confidence in PV module design qualification and type approval
o IEC TS 62804-1: Photovoltaic (PV) modules - Test methods for the detection of
potential- induced degradation - Part 1: Crystalline silicon.
o IEC 61215-1 (all applicable parts): Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design
qualification and type approval.
o IEC 61215-2: Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules - Design qualification and type
approval - Part 2: Test procedures.
o IEC 61701: Salt mist corrosion testing of photovoltaic (PV) modules.
o IEC 61730-1: Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification –Part 1: Requirements
for construction
o IEC 61730-2: Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification –Part 2: Requirements
for testing
o IEC 60068-2-68: Environmental testing – Part 2-68: Tests – Test L: Dust and sand.
o IEC TS 62782: Photovoltaic (PV) modules - Cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load
testing.
o IEC 62892: Test procedure for extended thermal cycling of PV modules
o IEC TS 60904-1-2: Photovoltaic devices - Part 1-2: Measurement of current-voltage
characteristics of bifacial photovoltaic (PV) devices
o IEC 61853 (all applicable parts): Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and
energy rating
• Prefabricated station
o IEC 62271-202:2022: High-voltage switchgear and controlgear – Part 202: AC
prefabricated substations for rated voltages above 1 kV and up to and including 52
kV
o IEC 62271-212: High-voltage switchgear and controlgear – Part 212: Compact
Equipment Assembly for Distribution Substation (CEADS)
• Grid integration
o IEC 62934: Grid integration of renewable energy generation - Terms, definitions and
symbols
o IEC TS 63102: Grid code compliance assessment for grid connection of wind and
PV power plants
o IEC TR 63043: Renewable energy power prediction
• Power transformers:
o IEC 60076 (all applicable parts): Power Transformers.
• HV+MV switchgear:
o IEC 62271 (all applicable parts): High-voltage switchgear and control gear.
o IEC 60376: Specification of technical grade sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) for use in
electrical equipment.
o IEC 62271-202: High-voltage switchgear and control gear - Part 202: High-voltage/
low-voltage prefabricated substation
• HV +MV cable:
o IEC 60183: Guidance for the selection of high-voltage A.C. cable systems.
o IEC 60287 (all applicable parts): Electric cables.
o IEC 60502 (all applicable parts): Power cables with extruded insulation and their
accessories for rated voltages from 1 kV (Um = 1,2 kV) up to 30 kV (Um = 36 kV).
o IEC 60840: Power cables with extruded insulation and their accessories for rated
voltages above 30 kV (Um = 36 kV) up to 150 kV (Um = 170 kV) – Test methods
and requirements.
o IEC 62067: Power cables with extruded insulation and their accessories for rated
voltages above 150 kV (Um = 170 kV) up to 500 kV (Um = 550 kV) – Test methods
and requirements.
• LV system:
o IEC 61439: Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies – Part 1: General
rules.
o IEC 60947-1: Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear – Part 1: General rules.
o IEC 61386 (all applicable parts): Conduit systems for cable management
o EN 12464 (all applicable parts): Light and lighting - Lighting of work places
• EMC:
o IEC 61000, (all applicable parts): Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).
applications
• Mounting structure
o UL 2703: Standard for Mounting Systems, Mounting Devices, Clamping/Retention
Devices, and Ground Lugs for Use with Flat-Plate Photovoltaic Modules and Panels
o UL 3703: Standard for Solar Trackers
o IEC TS 62727: Photovoltaic systems - Specification for solar trackers
o IEC 62817: Photovoltaic systems – Design qualification of solar trackers
o DIN 55634-1: Paints, varnishes and coatings - Corrosion protection of supporting
thin-walled building components made of steel - Part 1: Requirements and test
methods
The Project Company is responsible for ensuring that the environmental impact is reduced to a
minimum during design, construction, commissioning and operation of the plant.
The Project Company shall provide, operate and maintain the Plant in accordance with all
applicable environmental regulations, environmental standards and stipulations of the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia and in accordance with the existing Environmental & Social Impact Assessment
(ESIA), the Environmental & Social Management Plan (ESMP) and the Environmental Permit to
be issued by the competent authority.
The Project Company shall be responsible for obtaining the Environmental Permit. SPPC will
extend its full support to the Project Company to obtain the Environmental Permit to achieve
Financial Close.
At present the ESIA is in draft and relates mainly to the conceptual stage and proof of feasibility;
project details may change and construction approaches will be clarified. The existing ESMP,
which is an integral part of the existing ESIA Report, shall be fully developed and implemented
by the Project Company. The ESMP shall be developed for the construction phase including
commissioning, and for the operation phase, in form of two separate documents. The Project
Company shall ensure unconditional compliance with all environmental and social measures
stipulated in the ESMP during the design, construction, commissioning and operation of the plant.
In case of any changes that may affect the content of the ESIA and require a change to the ESMP,
the Project Company shall update the construction and/or operation ESMP and coordinate with
the applicable authority a possible update and/or renewal of the existing Environmental Permit.
The current version of the ESIA Report is provided in Annex 1.6 of Part III of this RFP.
Upon the contract award, the Environmental and Social Management Plans will be subject to
review, comment and approval by SPPC.
The Project Company is requested to consider for the design, construction, commissioning and
operation of the Plant all applicable and most recent health and safety laws, regulations, standards
and guidelines implemented in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition, the Project Company
shall comply with fundamental principles and rights at work of the International Labor
Organization, and the requirements of the eight conventions where these principles are laid down.
The Project Company shall be responsible for due care and diligence during and after the
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construction period to mitigate the environmental impact and ensure compliance with any
requirements of any environmental statements and/or environmental impact assessment and
ensuring compliance with any planning conditions relating to the design and construction of the
site.
The Bidder shall prepare project specific draft of Health and Safety Management Plan and
procedures, and HSE Policy which shall, among others, demonstrate Bidder’s commitment to the
highest standards of personal and general safety during design, construction, commissioning and
operation of the Plant to ensure the safety of all workers and the public. Providing of historical
health and safety records in form of LTIFR (Lost-Time Injury Frequency Rate), Fatal Accident
Rate (FAR) and Total Recordable Case Frequency (TRCF) for the last five (5) years is required.
Provision of documentation/reports covering all fatality cases is required for the same period of
time.
The project specific draft Health and Safety Management Plan and procedures, including all
specific Health and Safety requirements shall follow recommendations as set out by the national
Health and Safety legislative framework, as well as international best practice. The Health and
Safety Management Plan and procedures shall consider the most recent national and OSHA
standards (as published on https://www.osha.gov/law-regs.html).
The Project Company shall prepare and maintain a Health and Safety Management Plan and
procedures separately for the construction period including commissioning, and the operation
period, including a description and analysis of the main health and safety risks and the measures
to be taken to minimize the risk of worker’s and public safety.
The following requirements shall be addressed in the Health and Safety Management Plan, and
procedures as a minimum:
The Health and Safety Management Plan and procedures, and the HSE Policy shall be updated
throughout the duration of the project as need be, due to alteration in legislative requirements,
lessons learnt, change in Project Company’s HSE organization or similar.
Upon the contract award, the Health and Safety Management Plan, the accompanying working
procedures and the HSE Policy will be subject to review, comment and approval by SPPC.
The Project Company shall consider the HCIS requirements for renewable energy plants.
The Project Company’s design shall fulfill the requirements as per SAF-19 Power Plants,
Addendum 1; Renewable Energy Facilities and SEC-103, Security of Renewable Energy Facilities
.
The Plant shall be fenced according to the HCIS requirements (Class 3).
Plant installations shall be secured according to the HCIS requirements. The Project Company
shall also ensure all submissions as specified in SEC-01.
The Project Company shall engage the services of a HCIS approved Security consultant to conduct
a Security Risk Assessment (SRA) of the entire facility to ensure compliance with all applicable
HCIS and other local requirements. Based on the SRA findings, the Project Company may be
required to install additional security for the facility.
The Plant shall fully comply with the latest version of the:
The latter is provided as Annex 5.8 of Part III (Technical Appendices) of the RFP. In case of
discrepancies between the two documents, the SAGC shall prevail.
In no circumstance shall the Bidder exceed the maximum feed-in power at the Connection Point
as defined in section 4.1 of Part II Particular.
The Project Company shall conduct a grid code compliance study for the connection point.
Full compliance with the above indicated network connection conditions shall be proven by the
Project Company with qualified electrical system studies during project execution.
Reactive power compensation requirements are subject to grid related power system studies
outcomes and NGSA/SEC requirements, review and approval in accordance to the latest SAGC
and TRCG. Power system studies to be conducted by the Project Company during design stage. If
as a result of power system studies or upon NGSA/SEC's request additional compensation
equipment is required, then it shall be provided by the Project Company at no additional cost to
satisfy the SAGC and TRCG requirements.
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4.9 Layouts
The detailed layout for optimized plant arrangement and operation shall be developed by the
Project Company to fulfill the requirements of this Part II (Technical Specifications).
The layouts described in the following Sections shall be developed and submitted with the Bid.
The area for the Plant is defined by the coordinates given in the General Layout drawing in Annex
1.1 of Part III (Technical Appendices) of the RFP. All electrical, civil and mechanical equipment
and facilities required for plant operation shall be planned and arranged within this area.
The general layout to be developed by the Bidder shall take into account the implementation of
balance of plant in respect to local site conditions, existing infrastructure facilities and units, long-
term operation and required maintenance works on site.
The Project Company shall provide detailed design drawings showing cutouts in different scale.
This shall be supplemented by details, layouts developed for infrastructure, civil, mechanical,
electrical and other special fields of design and construction.
Bidder shall include in its general layout all the relevant coordinates for the Plant area, the access
road and the NGSA/SEC substation location.
Temporary site installations and laydown areas are envisaged to be located within the Plant Site.
The Project Company may envisage using other plots on its own responsibility including
applications for all permits, licenses, land lease, etc.
Labor camps shall comply with Saudi Arabian regulations regarding technical requirements and
location.
The Project Company is requested to review and comply with the local requirements, which might
include restrictions for allocation of areas for labor camps near the Plant area.
On completion of the construction and erection phase, all temporary site installations shall be
removed and demobilized from site, leaving the occupied location clean and clear of debris or
pollution.
The Project Company shall be aware of and take into account the potential corrosion on site due
to severe weather conditions, especially with equipment installed outdoors and underground. The
corrosion protection concept shall cover required corrosion protection measures and details for
design as well as required maintenance programs over the plant design lifetime.
Non-metallic materials placed outdoors shall be UV and sand resistant and withstand high ambient
temperature operation regimes as per the climatic conditions over the whole Plant design lifetime,
and where materials are specified in any part of this RFP, those characteristics are to be considered
as a minimum requirement. Metallic materials are not explicitly required to be UV resistant but in
case protective coating is required, this shall be UV and sand resistant.
All materials used for concrete, reinforced concrete structures, steel structures, aluminum
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structures or structural elements or any other building material shall be of high quality, free from
defects likely to undermine the strength and duration of service of the Plant. All outdoor structural
and miscellaneous structural steel shall be galvanized/corrosion resistant in accordance with the
applicable standards for the site conditions.
Reinforced concrete
For guidance for a suitable concrete design it is recommended that reference be made to CIRIA
Publication C577 (Guide to the construction of reinforced concrete in the Arabian Peninsula,
published by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association. CIRIA Report:
PE/0807/04/03) and NACE Standard RP0187-2005 Item No. 21034 Standard Recommended
Practice Design Considerations for Corrosion Control of Reinforcing Steel in Concrete.
These publications consider both sulfate and chloride contamination of soils in various exposure
conditions and are not restricted just to sub-surface concrete.
The design of the Plant shall be based on the following operational requirements:
• The Plant shall be operated in full compliance with all technical and environmental
requirements, within the technical limits of the Plant (to be specified by Bidder) and
according to all relevant codes and regulations;
• All facilities and equipment of the Plant shall be arranged and spaced sufficiently to enable
safe, satisfactory operation and maintenance of the Plant;
• To the extent reasonably possible, maintenance activities shall take place during the winter
period and night time;
• Planned maintenance of the Plant shall be carried out in accordance with the
manufacturers’ manuals and recommendations as well as in accordance with the
stipulations set forth in the PPA;
• The capability of the operation and control system of the Plant for analysis of operational
data to provide correlation between them and make the results available for plant operation
shall be explained. This system should not be limited to registration of data only, but
should comprise functions for assessment and interpretation of operating conditions and
to organize and provide such results for O&M in addition to the content of the operation
and maintenance manual;
• The Project Company shall operate the meteorological stations described in Section 4.15.3
of this Part II (Technical Specifications) in accordance with the meteorological station
supplier and manufacturer’s recommendations; the Project Company shall ensure that
equipment used for ongoing Plant performance monitoring at all times has valid
calibration certificates and The Project Company shall provide valid calibration
certificates to SPPC at any time on request;
• The Plant shall be equipped with the facilities required for control and all necessary
measurements and data for transmitting over communication links between the Plant and
the TSP Control Center;
• The Plant shall be provided with emergency power supplies to ensure the safe and
controlled operation of the Plant in the event of loss of all electrical supplies without
damage to any equipment.
The Project Company shall provide all spares necessary for conducting its responsibilities in
carrying out the works, including commissioning, testing and during the PPA Term. The Project
Company shall ensure it has prompt access to the spares to avoid delay to completion of
construction, commissioning or loss of generation.
The spare parts and consumables shall be stored according to manufactures requirements. The
warehouse and facilities concept shall reflect these requirements
4.13 Training
The Project Company is required to design a project specific training program and perform an
initial training program for the Plant personnel to ensure safe and reliable operation of the Plant.
It is the Project Company’s responsibility to perform all required training on a regular basis during
the operation phase of the Plant. The training shall include lesson learnt during the operational
period.
4.14 Decommissioning
All structures above ground level and up to one meter below ground level or up to the rock
formation, whichever is first, shall be removed.
Disposal of equipment shall be carried out in accordance with the best industry practice, in a safe
manner and at least according to the applicable laws and regulations.
The impact on the environment shall be minimal and the duration of decommissioning activities
shall not exceed 12 months.
4.15.1 PV Modules
The Plant shall be deployed by implementing proven technology PV modules as further detailed
in the following. The PV modules shall be selected according to the minimum requirements set
out below.
The PV modules can be either of the crystalline silicon type or the thin-film (TF) class. The PV
modules can be supplied from one single or maximum three (3) types for each of the projects.
Different manufacturers, or different PV modules series from the same manufacturer represent
different types in the context of this RFP. Different power classes within the same PV module
series do not represent different types in the context of this RFP.
In case more than one type of PV module is selected, the PV modules from the different types
shall be installed in different zones within the Plant, i.e. separated from each other. In any case the
minimum share of each PV module type for the Plant shall be not less than 10% in terms of
equivalent DC capacity.
Bidder shall specify in Form Sheet E.2 the equivalent share (in %DC) with respect to total DC
capacity installed, of each PV module type proposed, such as the cumulative value (i.e. the sum
of the equivalent share in % of each of the PV module types proposed, up to three for each of the
projects) is 100%. PV module types for which Bidder specifies an equivalent share of 0% in Form
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Sheet E.2 will not be considered as a part of the Bidder’s proposal and consequently will be
rejected.
The design of one typical PV power block connected to a LV/MV transformer station with one
PV module type shall come with the same inverter and mounting structure type. Further mixing
of PV modules, inverters, and mounting structures is not allowed.
DC connectors of the same brand used by the PV module manufacturer shall be selected.
Bidder shall provide at Bid Submission Date valid certificates issued by accredited testing
institutions according to valid IEC and other standards for the most recent version with any latest
amendments of the following IEC standards, for each of the PV modules proposed by the Bidder.
• IEC 61215 (all applicable parts): Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules – Design
qualification and type approval;
• IEC 61730-1, -2: Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification, Part 1: Requirements for
construction, Part 2: Requirements for testing;
• IEC 60068-2-68: Environmental testing – Part 2-68: Tests – Test L: Dust and sand;
• IEC TS 62804-1: Potential Induced Degradation (PID) free tests for crystalline silicon-
based modules;
• IEC TS 62804-2: Potential Induced Degradation (PID) free tests for thin-film based
modules (if applicable);
• IEC 61701: Salt mist corrosion testing of photovoltaic (PV) modules;
• IEC TS 62782: Photovoltaic (PV) modules - Cyclic (dynamic) mechanical load testing
For bifacial PV modules, Bidder shall provide at Bid Submission Date IEC 61215 and IEC
61730 (version 2021) certificates or submit additionally a third-party test report either as
per IEC TS 60904-1-2 or IEC 61853.
Bidder shall also provide the successful results of the enhanced testing as per the stipulations set
out in Annex 1.9 of Part III of the RFP for each of the proposed PV modules.
A power class of a PV module type higher than the one proposed at Bid Submission may be
considered at the time of order of the PV module provided that:
The chosen PV Module shall have the following minimum warranties, starting with the Project
Commercial Operation Date:
and
• PV module warranties shall be fully valid in combination with the proposed module
cleaning system.
The PV module shall be procured from a supplier which has supplied PV modules with a total
capacity of not less than 1000 MW (DC) to projects under operation with not less than three (3)
operational projects of at least 100 MW (DC) each. The manufacturer shall have at least five (5)
years of experience manufacturing photovoltaic modules. The manufacturer shall have a current
minimum manufacturing capacity of at least 1,000 MW per year.
The chosen PV module type shall have been installed, tested, commissioned and successfully
operated for at least six (6) months preceding the Bid Submission Deadline with an accumulated
installed capacity of at least 50 MW (DC) of which two (2) PV plants with an installed capacity
of at least 10 MW (DC) each.
Information about reference projects shall contain at least the following information:
PV module manufacturers shall have a certified factory level quality system like ISO 9001-2015
or IEC TS 62941 proven by valid certificates. SPPC has the right to perform factory inspections
at any time.
The Bidder shall be aware that SPPC and/or their advisors reserve the right to perform factory
inspections prior to PPA Signing in the context of this RFP. SPPC shall have the right to receive
from the Shortlisted Bidder(s) the warranty claims history of the chosen PV module model or
series.
Bidder shall submit at Bid Submission, confirmation letter from the supplier of the proposed PV
module types confirming the required manufacturing capacity for the PV module types proposed
for the Project, as well as a timeline for the production process and shipment thereof which shall
be in line with the detailed time schedule and work program (Gantt chart) of the Project.
4.15.2 Inverters
The inverters shall be suitable for the Site conditions as described in Section 3 of this Part II
(Technical Specifications), have proven successful operation in utility-scale PV plants, and be
procured from bankable suppliers with appropriate bankable references. The inverter manufacturer
and the inverters shall comply with the following requirements.
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• be suitable for the ambient conditions on Site, or an enclosure or shadow roof shall be
provided to assure that the inverters always stay within the tolerable temperature range;
• be of either string or central inverter type;
• be designed to operate at all local conditions, for example, high temperature, soil or dusty
atmosphere and heavy rain. The inverters shall be equipped with a temperature control and,
in case of central inverters, a moisture content control;
• in case of outdoor central inverters have a minimum of IP 54 with sufficient cooling
provisions. Inverters installed inside a compact station with a minimum of IP 54 shall be a
minimum of IP 20 and must provide for adequate active or passive cooling per
manufacturer recommendations; and
• in case of string inverters be of at least IP 65.
The inverters shall include but not limited to the below features:
The inverters can be supplied from one single or maximum three (3) types for each of the projects.
Different manufacturers, or different inverter series from the same manufacturer, or different
power classes within the same inverter series represent different types in the context of this RFP.
In case more than one inverter type is proposed, the inverters from the different types shall be
installed in different zones within the PV plant, i.e. separated from each other. In any case the
minimum share of each inverter type for the Project shall be not less than 20% in terms of
equivalent AC capacity.
The design of one typical PV power block connected to a LV/MV transformer station with one
inverter type shall come with the same PV module and mounting structure type. Further mixing
of PV modules, inverters, and mounting structures is not allowed.
The inverters should allow system configurations with grounding of the PV strings’ negative poles
to counter potential induced degradation (PID). In this case, the safety requirements shall not be
jeopardized at any time and the monitoring of the isolation resistance shall be possible in
automated form according to IEC 62109 Standard Part 1 and 2. This refers especially to automatic
disconnection of grounding and control of isolation resistance before the daily start of inverter
operation (IEC 62109- 2; 4.8) as well as to any further requirements regarding electrical safety
described in this standard.
Even if grounding the negative pole of strings is not envisaged in the system design, the inverters
shall have the required features to perform grounding and to install automatic isolation resistance
control if required (i.e. the inverters shall be able to be upgraded with functional grounding in case
PID is detected).
With regards to the I&C and communication system the following is required for the inverters:
implemented) all restrictions must be complied with (e.g. cable length, attenuation, etc.)
and negative impacts (such as interferences, noise, EMC, impedance fluctuation, etc.) shall
be avoided; and
• Remote software access and software updates shall be possible and considered by the
Project Company.
Bidder shall provide at Bid Submission Date valid certificates issued by accredited testing
institutions according to valid IEC and other standards for the most recent version of the following
IEC standards, for each of the inverters proposed by the Bidder.
The inverter shall have a product warranty of minimum five (5) years, starting with the Project
Commercial Operation Date.
• Inverter stations shall consist of the station itself (container solution or outdoor
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• It is the Project Company’s responsibility to study and design a control system for
temperature, dust/sand and moisture content. The Bidder shall provide confirmation from
the manufacturer that the product warranties are valid for the inverter station design ambient
conditions described in Section 3 of this Part II (Technical Specifications).
• The prefabricated station shall be suitable for the Site conditions, have proven successful
operation in utility-scale PV plants, and be procured from bankable supplier with appropriate
bankable references.
• The Bidder shall provide documentation confirming that the integration of the inverter
station is in compliance with the equipment manufacturer’s specifications and requirements
and applicable IEC standards such as IEC 62271-202:2022 High-voltage switchgear and
controlgear –Part 202: AC prefabricated substations for rated voltages above 1 kV and up to
and including 52 kV; and, IEC 62271-212 High-voltage switchgear and controlgear – Part
212: Compact Equipment Assembly for Distribution Substation (CEADS)
Any selected inverter type shall have been operated successfully in utility-scale PV plants with at
least two (2) PV plants (using the proposed inverter type) with an installed capacity of 50 MW
(AC) each for at least one (1) year preceding the Bid Submission Date. Information about reference
projects shall contain at least the following information:
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In general, Meteorological Stations shall be designed and equipped according to Class A of the
most recent version of IEC 61724-1 and ISO 9060. This includes data acquisition and timing,
measured parameters, data processing and quality check.
A minimum number, according to the most recent version of IEC 61724-1of meteorological
stations shall be installed at representative locations throughout the Plant. As per the date of release
of this RFP the minimum number of meteorological stations defined by IEC 61724-1 is as follows:
< 40 2
≥ 40 to < 100 3
Each meteorological station shall contain, besides other necessary equipment and installation
material, as a minimum:
• calibrated spectrally flat Class A pyranometer according to the most recent version of ISO
9060 classification to measure the global horizontal irradiance (GHI), with a calibration
uncertainty ≤ 2% at 1,000 W/m²; range up to 1,500 W/m²; resolution ≤ 1 W/m² and
levelled to within 0.5°;
• calibrated spectrally flat Class A pyranometer according to the most recent version of ISO
9060 classification to measure the global inclined irradiance on the plane of the array
(POA), with a calibration uncertainty ≤ 2% at 1,000 W/m²; range up to 1,500 W/m²;
resolution ≤ 1 W/m² and aligned with their intended plane within 0.5° of tilt and 1° of
azimuth
• If the PV modules are mounted on trackers, the POA pyranometer shall be mounted on a
tracker in proximity to the meteorological station. To ensure redundancy, the global
inclined irradiance on each POA in each meteorological station shall be measured twice;
• shielded ventilated thermocouple to measure ambient temperature with a measurement
resolution ≤ 0.1°C and accuracy of ± 1°C or better. The sensor should be placed at least 1
m away from the nearest PV module and in a location where it will not be affected by
thermal sources or sinks, such as exhausts from inverters or equipment shelters, asphalt or
roofing materials, etc. Generally installed at a height similar to the average height of the
arrays.
• Thin-film thermocouples of types T or E or equivalent to measure the temperature of
modules (on the back of the PV modules) with a measurement resolution ≤ 0.1°C and
accuracy of ± 1°C or better.. Module temperature varies across each module and across the
array. Temperature sensors shall be placed in representative locations to capture the range
of variation and allow the determination of an effective average. Care should be taken by
selecting the adhesive or interface material between sensor and the rear surface of the PV
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module. A minimum number of three (3) PV module temperature sensors shall be installed
per meteorological station;
• For bifacial modules, rear-side temperature sensors and wiring shall obscure < 10 % of the
area of any cell, and wiring should be routed in between cells when possible.
• anemometer and wind vane mounted on a mast to measure the wind speed and wind
direction at the site; Wind speed sensor measurement uncertainty shall be ≤ 0.5 m⋅s−1 for
wind speeds ≤ 5 m⋅s−1, and ≤ 10 % of the reading for wind speeds greater than 5 m⋅s−1.
• Wind direction is defined as the direction from which the wind blows, and is measured
clockwise from the geographical north. It shall be measured with an accuracy of 5 deg.
• Soiling monitoring station to measure the soiling ratio mounted on the plane of the array
(POA) by means of either:
o comparing a pair of PV reference devices, one of which is routinely cleaned and the
other of which soils naturally at the same rate as the PV array.
o optical soiling measurement technology.
• datalogger that can record and sample data from all required instruments and sensors as
per IEC 61724;
• In case Bidder proposes bifacial PV modules, the design of the soiling monitoring station
shall also consider the rear side soiling monitoring. in case of bifacial PV systems,
following additional sensors have to be considered to determine the rear-side irradiance:
o Option 1: Horizontal Albedo measurement + diffuse irradiance measurement
▪ Horizontal albedo shall be measured as the ratio between two spectrally flat
Class A pyranometers with a Calibration uncertainty ≤ 2% at 1000 W⋅m-2;
Range up to 1500 W⋅m-2; Resolution ≤ 1 W⋅m-2, joined as an “albedo
meter”. The location of horizontal albedo sensors shall be chosen to be
representative of the albedo at the site, at a minimum height of 1 meter.
▪ Diffuse horizontal irradiance shall be measured with a rotating shadow band
radiometer, or equivalent.
▪ use an optical model, such as a view-factor or ray-tracing model, to estimate
rear-side irradiance.
o Option 2: Direct measurement of the in-plane rear side irradiance
Three (3) calibrated spectrally flat Class C pyranometer according to the most recent
version of ISO 9060 classification, with a Calibration uncertainty ≤ 3% at 1 000
W⋅m-2; Range up to 1 500 W⋅m-2; Resolution ≤ 1 W⋅m-2 . To be placed oriented
parallel to the plane of array (POA) and along the rear side of the racking structure
to follow and measure the non-uniform illumination profile throughout the day.This
allows both quantifying the non-uniformity of the rear-side irradiance and
calculating an effective average of the rear-side irradiance.
For the avoidance of doubt, the final number of sensors and their arrangement is to be determined
during the detailed design stage.
The Project Company is free to design the PV system of the Plant in such a manner as the Project
Company deems most appropriate to achieve the lowest cost of electricity on the given Plant Site.
Crystalline-Silicon (c-Si) or thin-film (TF) PV modules can be chosen as long as the PV modules
comply with the requirements set forth in this Part II (Technical Specifications) and the module
supplier fulfils the requirements stipulated in Part I (General Instructions to Bidder) of the RFP.
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DC Voc may not exceed 1,500V under any ambient conditions. For all systems exceeding DC Voc
1,000V the following conditions shall be met:
• The entire PV generator shall have restricted access for competent persons only (see IEC
62548:2016).
• To avoid potential induced degradation (PID), functional grounding of the PV generator (+
or - depending on module supplier) has to be possible without additional installation works
or equipment subsequent to Mechanical Completion, i.e. even if the Project Company does
not envisage the functional grounding to be connected under normal operation conditions,
such equipment shall be installed. Alternative solutions are permitted, provided that the
Project Company provides a detailed rationale on PID prevention and the suitability of its
isolation protection and other safety relevant features.
• At each start of operation (at least daily), an automatic isolation check has to be performed.
The minimum threshold and further minimum requirements to be considered by the system
designer are specified in IEC 62548:2016.
• Such a check and the status of connection / disconnection of the functional grounding have
to be shown for each point of disconnection individually in the plant monitoring system.
• Functional grounding has to be disconnected during any entrance to the PV generator area
(sub- area), including but not limited to, inspections, maintenance works and e.g. module
cleanings. The status of connection or disconnection of the functional grounding shall be
visible in the monitoring system.
• The Project Company has to provide confirmation of the system conceptual design by the
module supplier as well as the inverter supplier, including the norms and standards used.
In case of doubt, the Project Company is responsible for proving that IEC norms and the
Saudi Arabian Grid Code (if applicable) are fulfilled.
• All equipment has to be rated for the chosen system voltage, including but not limited to:
o PV modules;
o Connectors;
o DC cabling;
o Combiner boxes, including e.g. SPD, fuses, fuse holders, measurement equipment,
connection terminals;
o Inverters.
In case, a target PV string length results in a calculated maximum voltage marginally above the
maximum system voltage rating, further engineering analysis has to be carried out during detailed
design as stipulated under IEC TS 62738-7.2.1
The Plant shall be equipped with an automatic fire detection system with smoke detectors in all
buildings on site, such as control rooms, electrical rooms, electronic rooms, battery rooms, inverter
/ transformer stations (if installed indoors) and MV switchgears.
Fire protection for power transformers at Plant Substation shall be designed as per NFPA 850. For
facilities that are operated unattended, a fire risk evaluation should be conducted addressing delay
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response time and lack of communications. Alarms shall be signaled locally (audible and visible)
and in the Plant control room and should also permit remote connection.
Firefighting equipment such as fire extinguishers shall be provided in or near the control buildings,
inverter / transformer stations and switchgears as required. HVAC systems shall be interlocked
with Fire Detection and Suppression systems to shut down upon smoke or fire detected.
For containerized Inverter stations/MV transformer stations solution fire detection or smoke
detection system are mandatory; in addition, retaining oil spillage measures shall be considered.
The design and installation of the fire protection (including fire protection walls), fire
extinguishing and fire alarming systems shall be in accordance with highest internationally
recognized standard, like NFPA-Codes and local standards, like SAF-19.
Fire prevention risk evaluation shall be conducted to evaluate risk and present the proper
mitigation taking into account NFPA standards
4.16.1 General
Electrical and associated works shall be complete in every respect and shall ensure safe and
reliable operation of the Plant. This means that all material and equipment shall be provided as
required to make a complete, properly functioning installation and shall conform to the highest
standards of engineering design and workmanship.
For the design of the electrical, instrumentation and control facilities, all requirements specified
under Section 4.1 (General Requirements) of this Part II (Technical Specifications) shall be
followed accordingly, e.g. electrical and I&C redundancies shall not be less than mechanical ones.
Reliable power supply and remote control of common facilities shall be maintained in case of
outage of one (1) single component.
The color code of the LV cables of the entire Plant shall comply with the latest IEC standards. In
addition, the following requirements shall be considered.
If not specified otherwise elsewhere, electrical equipment shall comply with IEC standards.
In addition, the requirements stated in Section 4.8 (Electrical Network Connection Conditions)
shall apply. The plant’s earthing system shall be designed according to IEC, VDE or IEEE
standards.
The requirements stated in the latest edition of the Saudi Arabian Grid Code shall be observed.
The following voltage levels are pre-assigned and shall be used in the Plant:
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Star Point /
Item Voltage Neutral
Treatment
Power Distribution 33000 V or 11000 V, 60 Hz, 3-phase resistance earthed
System-Medium
Voltage
Power Distribution 400/230 V, 60Hz, 3-phase, + N + PE solidly grounded
System Low Voltage
Uninterruptable 400/230 V, 60Hz, 1-phase or 3-phase, + N + PE solidly grounded
Power Supply
(UPS)
DC Control Voltage 220 VDC or 125 VDC or 110 VDC ungrounded
Note: For the whole Plant the same control voltage
level shall be provided, either 110 VDC or 125 VDC
or 220 VDC.
Lighting and Small 400/230 V, 60 Hz, 3 phase, + N + PE solidly grounded
Power Distribution
4.16.4 Testing
All electrical equipment shall be routine and type tested in the factory. Type tests shall not be
repeated if type test certificates of identical equipment not older than 10 years are available.
A tentative configuration of the electrical system is indicated in Annex 3.1 of Part III (Technical
Appendices) of the RFP. The Bidder shall adapt the configuration to its proposed design taking
into consideration the principles as indicated in Annex 3.1 of Part III (Technical Appendices) of
the RFP.
The Plant shall be provided with its own electrical auxiliaries located in dedicated local electrical
rooms. The electrical system shall be controlled and monitored through the Plant’s DCS.
All electrical equipment in the Project Company’s scope of supply shall be fit for purpose. It shall
be suitable for faultless and safe operation of the entire plant during all phases of operation and
shall be suitable for the location in which it will be installed.
Earthing protection
• The earthing system shall eliminate any risk to personnel including authorized and
unauthorized visitors on Site from electric shock hazard (specifically transferred
potentials, "step" potentials, and "touch" potentials);
• The earthing system shall safely conduct maximum earth fault currents without risk to
either personnel or Plant;
• The earthing system shall not disturb the normal operation of the electrical protection
equipment.
• The earthing system and potential equalization shall comply with the standards listed
under section 4.4; and
• All buildings, including those with a steel skeleton, shall be equipped with foundation
earthing. The foundation earthing shall be installed in addition to reinforcement that is
likewise connected together with braided conductors.
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For protection against the effects of lightning and overvoltage, the lightning protection concept or
design shall follow IEC TR 63227. A lightning risk assessment as per IEC 62305-2 shall be carried
out during detailed design phase under following considerations:
• The selection of the metallic connection components that form part of the lightning
protection system (LPS) shall follow IEC 62561 in all parts;
• The selection of the surge protection devices (SPD) at the DC side shall follow IEC 61643-
32;
• The selection of the SPD at the LV AC side shall follow IEC 61643-12;
• The selection of the SPD for telecommunications and signaling networks shall follow IEC
61643- 22;
• For MV and HV networks IEC 60099 (all parts) is applicable; and
• Early Streamer Emission lightning protection systems as per NF C17-102 are not accepted.
Mounted in an air-conditioned rooms for indoor installation, the mechanical protection class;
• MV and LV switchgears shall be minimum IP 41;
• DC rectifiers and inverters (UPS) shall be minimum IP 31;
• Dry type transformers shall be located in transformer housings with degree of protection of
• minimum IP 23;
• All other electrical equipment shall have ingress protection of at least IP 43.
Sunshades shall be provided for all electrical equipment located outdoor, and all electrical equipment
shall be adequately ventilated or air-conditioned (as applicable), for operability.
The following I&C requirements shall be taken into consideration by the Project Company.
This specification does not relieve the Project Company of its responsibility for the basic design
and execution of the instrumentation and control system. The rules of Good Utility Practice and
the relevant approved standards and regulations shall be observed.
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A consistent instrumentation and control philosophy shall apply throughout the Plant and shall be
implemented in terms of a range of equipment exhibiting a minimum diversity of type and
manufacture. The objective shall be to standardize all measurement and control equipment
throughout the Plant in order to rationalize operation and maintenance and reduce spare parts
holding.
Every safety-related loop shall be verified according to the standard IEC 61508, IEC 61511 to
ensure that the requested and necessary Safety Integrity Level (SIL) is fulfilled for the individual
loop. The Project Company shall assess all safety-related loops to ensure compliance with the
related requirements and shall provide a report on these studies.
The instrumentation and control equipment shall have high electro-magnetic and radio frequency
interference immunity and shall not be affected by portable radio transmitters operated in the
vicinity of the equipment. Any limitations shall be stated by the Bidder.
The I&C sysytems shall comply with the standards listed under section 4.4.
All I&C equipment shall have enclosure classification not less than IP 54 according to IEC 60529
when mounted in an enclosed building and IP 65 for mounting outdoors. Control cubicles installed
in air-conditioned rooms shall be at least IP 32.
o Sunshades shall be provided for all cubicles located outdoors and all cubicles shall be
adequately ventilated or air-conditioned, if necessary, for operability.
IEC 61724 shall be considered as a guideline for measurement, data exchange and analysis.
Due to the requirements of availability, reliability and function, the control and monitoring tasks
of the main Plant processes shall be performed by a state-of-the-art control system.
The Digital Control System (DCS) shall achieve all functions of:
• data acquisition;
• controls;
• human machine interface;
• alarm signaling;
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In order to obtain a high availability and reliability of the Plant, the control system also requires a
high availability. This shall be achieved by using a single-fault-tolerant design for the centralized
components and important sensors, which might affect the Plant availability in the event of
malfunction or be used for protection, shall be provided in a redundant configuration.
The system configuration shall be simple and flexible with regard to re-configuration of loop
connection and display formats to suit changes in operational requirements. System software
security, including database configuration and controller loop tuning parameters shall be
accessible by password.
All systems shall require minimum maintenance and shall have comprehensive self-checking and
self- diagnostic capabilities, including self-test failure alarms etc.
Dedicated hardware modules for input and output signal conditioning shall be provided. The
process I/O shall be able to accept signals from conventionally available signal sources (binary
signals and analog 4–20 mA signals).
Analog I/O
For the analog inputs, the system software shall check for signal integrity, and if the input signal
exceeds ± 5% of the specified range, the measurement shall be declared invalid. Analog input
modules shall also provide the power supply for the field transmitters.
Analog inputs shall contain over-range protection circuits to protect the equipment from ground
faults or high voltage, either in common or normal mode. A ground fault detection alarm shall be
provided.
Binary I/O
Binary input modules shall be provided with sense voltage-to-field contacts and input for
proximity switches shall be provided by the DCS.
Controls
Special precautions shall be taken to provide maximum reliability for important control loops
whose failure could result in a complete PV Plant shutdown or threaten human life. These
measures can be implemented as a redundant process interface or using 2-out-of-3 voting.
Power Supply
Redundant power supply distribution for all main I&C/SCADA and communications systems.
The controller modules shall communicate with the workstations and with each other through a
data highway. The redundant data highway shall fiber optic cable: Extension of the data highway
shall be possible.
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Operation of the single-fault-tolerant bus system shall be such that one failure of the highway shall
not affect the operation of the PV Plant. Under no circumstances shall one single failure lead to an
outage of the complete data system.
I&C systems shall be designed in such a way that the complete Plant can be remotely controlled
from the control room in the on-site Control Building via SCADA operator station. Local activities
shall not be necessary. If necessary, the connection of an additional operator station in another
room or in another building should be possible.
An additional operator / engineering station should be provided with the same functionality as the
operation station but extended with software for engineering and diagnosis purposes.
All operator stations using screen window visualization shall allow operating and monitoring of
the complete Plant.
It shall be possible to display the process with corresponding graphic displays, control loop
displays, electrical single-line schematics, group displays, etc., all with dynamically updated
process parameters on the VDUs. The system shall be able to create and show displays such as:
All necessary information concerning process behavior, control instrument and controller integrity
for modulating control, sequential control and alarm function shall be immediately available at the
operator station.
Abnormal operating conditions and events in the Plant shall be announced. Under operation
control, it shall be possible to print all or selected alarms on demand.
The SCADA shall display an “easy-to-read” summary of the PV Pant status and performance at
any time. The monitoring system shall be able to process the data and to sort the data necessary
for the presentation. Abnormal operating conditions and events in the Plant shall be announced.
The engineer's work station shall allow system configuration, graphics development, report
generation, system self-documentation functions, system monitoring functions (which show the
result of self- diagnostic tests), system database load / save, diagnostics and failure analyses,
reports, etc.
Data exchange to office and plant systems such as plant management systems, maintenance
management system, document management systems, etc. shall be provided according to the
operation and maintenance requirements.
The Plant monitoring shall consider measurements, evaluation of these data, creation of models
and performance calculations for at least:
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Bidder is free to make their own design with string monitoring or group of string monitoring as
long as availability requirements, operation & maintenance works and good engineering practices
are not compromised.
For the calculation of Deemed Electrical Energy Payments and for recording, monitoring and
forecasting purposes, a computer program will be used.
The following information and data will be recorded and used for the Plant Performance Model:
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• The basic measured values (average hourly values) required for payment calculation, such
as Net Electrical Energy, ambient conditions;
• The status of modules, inverters, MV transformers, MV/HV step-up transformer(s) as
available from the SCADA system of the Plant.
The Plant Performance Model shall provide a mathematical representation of the Plant, including
its technical configuration and shall be designed to provide the following outputs, including but
not limited to:
The following inputs to the Plant Performance Model shall be fed online:
The Plant Performance Model shall be integrated in the Plant’s SCADA system and it shall interact
with the Settlement System as described in Schedule 13 to Part V (Draft Project Agreements) in
such a way as to ensure proper communication within both software (for Plant Performance Model
and for the Settlement System).
A description of the envisaged weather and power forecasting system shall be provided by the
Bidder at times of Bid Submission.
The Plant shall provide respective information to SPPC for day-ahead and short-term planning as
required by the SAGC and taking the following additional requirements into account.
A day-ahead and a continuous 3 hours intra-day forecasting system shall be implemented and
maintained by the Project Company throughout the duration of the PPA by means of a subcontract
with a third-party service provider specialized and experienced in weather and power forecasting
to be procured by the Project Company. This could also comprise the installation of meteorological
stations and/or the use of machine learning based methods to further improve the model accuracy.
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The forecast system shall use the latest Numerical Weather Prediction model (NWP) with the
highest resolution in space and time. In case of major NWP model updates, such updates shall be
considered in the forecast system as well. The process using NWP model data should consider a
redundancy in case one or more NWP model data are not available.
For the power forecast, the as-built layout and design of the PV plant shall be considered.
The hourly day-ahead forecast including a Net Electrical Energy forecast, shall be updated twice
per day, once in the morning and again in the evening. The 3 hours intra-day forecast shall be
updated every 15-30 minutes.
Details of the forecasting, including accuracy, data format and transmission, testing, training, and
reporting will be defined and agreed between the Project Company and SPPC during the detail
design phase. Commissioning and successful acceptance testing shall take place before COD as
part of the Start-up Tests.
The plant control systems are critical for plant safety and operation. If degraded or sabotaged they
put people, environment and assets at risk. The requirements for security are therefore high.
To ensure availability, confidentiality and integrity, at least the following points shall be taken
into account:
The measures shall be based on local requirements such as SEC-05, SEC-08, SEC-12, stated in
HCIS requirements, ECC-1, stated in National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) – Essential
Cybersecurity Controls and international standards like ISO 27000 series (especially ISO 27001)
and IEC 62443.
4.17.8 Telecommunication
A telephone system connected to the public telephone network shall be provided by the Project
Company.
One (1) telephone unit and one facsimile on separate lines shall be installed at the Plant according
to the Saudi Arabian Grid Code requirements.
Closed Circuit Television if required shall be compliant with the requirements of the HCIS
standards.
The requirements of the latest version of Chapter 7 “Metering Code” of the Saudi Arabian Grid
Code have to be fulfilled for all settlement metering equipment.
The requirements and scope of work included in Annex 1.11 of Part III of RFP “SPPC - Central
Settlement System - Standard Interface Specification for Data Exchange Solar Plants” shall be
used for the data exchange and the required integration details starting from the energy meters
up to the browser of the end users of the SPPC.
All check meters and associated equipment and facilities including CTs and VTs shall be in
accordance with the Saudi Arabian Grid Code and approved by the TSP.
For the metering system, the transmission protocol IEC 62056 is to be followed. The final amount
and type of signals to be exchanged have to be agreed with NGSA/SEC during engineering and
detail design stage.
The Plant integration into the control centers in Saudi Arabia shall be in accordance with the latest
version of the Saudi Arabian Grid Code and NGSA/SEC requirements and Standards.
The civil design shall consider the latest UBC/IBC rules and observe any present regional
requirements by authorities.
Buildings and structures for the Plant shall form an integrated structural theme of high standard.
They shall be designed as per acceptable international standards, local regulations and codes and
shall be fit for the purpose in each case. Energy efficient designs are encouraged.
Local building codes of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall be followed with respect to civil and
infrastructure works and buildings.
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Dimension and size of the buildings shall be designed by the Project Company taking into account
its own operation and maintenance concepts and requirements. Basis for design and construction
shall be the developed balance of plant, ordinance of workplaces, the selected equipment
characteristics and specifications, safety and fire protection regulations, maintenance
requirements, staffing for operation and maintenance works etc.
All buildings shall be fully furnished and equipped in all rooms and areas including any technical,
telecommunication facilities and connections as required for safe plant operation and service.
Access and parking for the associated personnel shall be provided, preferably in combination with
sun- protection roof.
The Plant layout shall be developed in respect to an optimized module arrangement and orientation
and consistent with the yield reports submitted with the Bidder’s proposal.
The mounting structure shall be designed, manufactured and installed in accordance with a
commercially proven design. The mounting structures shall be designed in accordance with the
respective site and design conditions described in Section 3 of the Part II (Technical
Specifications) of the RFP.
The Project Company is free to choose fixed mounted structures or single-axis tracking systems.
The design of both structure and foundations shall come from the selected mounting structure
supplier. While the EPC contractor shall execute the work, the mounting structure supplier shall
sign off the execution of these works in order to confirm that the mounting structure warranty
remains in effect. The Project Company must comply with and evidence the minimum mounting
structure warranty requirements set out in Section 4.19.1.2 below.
The mounting structures can be from one single or maximum three (3) suppliers or types for each
of the projects. In case more than one supplier or type is selected, the different mounting structures
shall be installed in different zones / blocks within the PV plant, i.e. separated from each other.
The minimum share of one mounting structure supplier or type for the Project shall be not less
than 20% in terms of equivalent DC capacity.
The design of one typical PV power block using one mounting structure supplier or type shall
come with the same inverter and PV module suppliers or types. Further mixing of PV modules,
inverters, and mounting structures is not allowed.
All mounting structure works shall be planned and conducted in accordance with the
environmental and local regulation. Accessibility for PV module cleaning and maintenance
activities between the PV array structures and O&M vehicles shall be considered in accordance
with Project Company’s O&M concept.
The mounting structure shall be suitable for the PV modules. The PV module manufacturer is
required to confirm the adequacy of its modules for the (either fixed or tracked) mounting system.
In case of single-axis tracking systems, the following information, studies, and reports shall be
prepared by the Project Company. The studies and reports shall provide a positive outcome of the
respective tests, designs, and concepts for the utilization of the proposed single-axis tracking
system in the Project:
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• Stow strategy control system: The Project Company is solely responsible for the definition
and implementation of a proper stow strategy which clearly demonstrates and guarantees
the safe operation of the tracker during all wind events with speed up to and including the
maximum one defined as per local structural code. The following points, including but not
limited to, should be made available as part of the safety stow strategy:
o Tracker inclination and orientation at safety stow position;
o Type and number of components involved in the proper functioning of the active
stow;
o Lifetime and expected failure rates of critical components under operating
conditions, in line with expected plant lifetime HALT tests for critical system
components;
o Maximum wind speed in [m/s] as [3-sec gust / 10min average] defined at 10m height
which the tracker can withstand in working position;
o Time requirement to move the tracker from working position into stow position
considering also safety factors;
o System redundancies that help to minimize risk of failure. Emergency system in case
of tracking or measurement defects;
o Wind measurement devices and sensors: type, number, layout distribution and
installation height;
o Stow alarm function and wind speed at which it is triggered;
o Tracker control units;
o Integration of the stow control system into the SCADA system of the PV Plant. The
wind speed values measured on site should be converted to the wind speed units
definition for the project location (in m/s at 10 m height) and stored for future
inspections;
o Safety strategy during installation / commissioning;
o In case that batteries are used, which is the minimum charge level required in order
to reach safety stow position;
o Security of communication protocols required for the active stow;
• Wind tunnel tests from a recognized wind expert institute (CPP Wind Engineering, RWDI
or an alternative experienced institute subject to approval by SPPC). Wind channel tests
should be used in supplement to calculations using appropriate models of the structure and
of the natural wind;
• Successful tracker dynamic analysis and tests based on the actual tracker configuration,
stiffnesses and geometry with investigations of vortex shedding and all possible aeroelastic
instabilities, for example:
o Flutter;
o Divergence;
o Galloping;
o Modal analysis;
o Full scale outdoor tests demonstrating the tracker natural frequencies;
o Full scale outdoor tests regarding tracker damping;
o Power consumption test; and
o Demonstration of dynamic amplification factors (DAFs).
• Tracker stress, stability and connections verifications by calculation and also backed up by
actual loading tests. Stability check for operational and maximum wind speeds;
• Definition of tolerances, maximum terrain inclinations North-South, East-West and
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WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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Bidder shall provide at Bid Submission Date valid certificates issued by accredited testing institutions
according to valid IEC and other standards for the most recent version with any latest amendments
of the following standards, for each of the Mounting Systems or Trackers proposed by the Bidder.
o UL 2703 : Standard for Mounting Systems or UL 3703: Standard for Solar
Trackers;
o IEC 62817: Photovoltaic systems - Design qualification of solar trackers, if
applicable; and
o DIN 55634-1 or similar: Standard for paints, varnishes and coatings.
The mounting structure supplier(s) shall provide a 10-year warranty starting with the Project
Commercial Operation Date for the complete mounting structure including but not limited to the
design, material, and installation of the structure (fixed or tracking), substructure, power unit,
piles, and foundations.
The mounting structure shall be designed, manufactured and installed in accordance with a
commercially proven design. The mounting structures manufacturer shall have supplied mounting
structures for at least 500 MW (DC) of accumulated capacity.
The chosen Mounting structure shall have been installed, tested, commissioned and successfully
operated for at least one (1) year preceding the Bid Submission Deadline with an accumulated
installed capacity equivalent to at least 300 MW (DC) of which two (2) PV plants with an installed
capacity equivalent to at least 100 MW (DC) each with similar ambient conditions.
Information about reference projects shall contain at least the following information:
4.19.2 Fencing
HVAC shall be designed, installed and operated in compliance with latest version of recognized
international, and local standards emitted by Saudi Building Code (SBC), and with all other
applicable national and local codes and regulations. In case of conflict between the international
and the applicable national and local codes and regulations, the most stringent requirement shall
apply.
The regulation and control system of the air-conditioning, ventilation and cooling installations
shall be performed by electrical control equipment. A specialist control equipment supplier shall
furnish automatic electric/electronic control equipment and motor control panels for the Plant,
The Project Company shall make itself fully aware of the ambient conditions at the Plant site. The
refrigerant R22 shall not be used.
The HVAC systems have to be used in all spaces and rooms which require special internal
conditions, either for staff needs or to enable the most efficient operation of the Plant’s facilities.
The areas which have to be ventilated and / or require air conditioning are the following:
The range of temperature and relative humidity shall consider the manufacturer’s temperature
requirements for the critical component. The HVAC system shall be designed with possible
amendments of temperature and humidity ranges depending on the components considered in the
Project Company’s concept.
Water supply and distribution system have to be installed for all water needed including for
module cleaning (if wet cleaning is intended), portable water and fire-fighting systems, if
applicable.
It is the Project Company’s choice to install a network on site with central delivery point and
related storage basin and pumping station or to decide for independent decentralized systems.
The Project Company shall take into consideration the loading capacities and clearances of
existing bridges and connecting roads when carrying out transportation from the ports or from
other places to the site and vice-versa.
Roads for common and frequent use by the Plant shall be designed of sufficient width including
shoulders and load as well with regard to the frequency of traffic as to the heavy load
transportations. Adjacent to major buildings in some cases the shoulders shall be replaced by
walkways.
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WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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Plant internal roads shall be designed and constructed according to the manufacturer’s
requirements and/or the general operational and maintenance requirements.
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WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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The Proposal shall include the technical information described in the following Section 5.1 with
the Proposal. The Bidder is requested to complete Form Sheet P (Technical Information to be
provided with Proposal) of Part IV (Form Sheets) of the RFP to enable SPPC and its Advisors to
check the responsiveness of its Proposal. The Bidder will also be required to provide the
documentation specified in Section 5.2 and 5.3 of this Part II (Technical Specifications) relating
to the design and construction of the Plant by the dates specified therein.
Any deviation from the technical requirements or instructions of the RFP shall be clearly indicated
and explained by the Bidder in accordance with Form Sheets M and N (Technical Deviations) of
Part IV (Form Sheets) of the RFP .Deviations and/or clarifications not listed in Form Sheets M or
N will not be considered by SPPC and its Advisors. In any case, deviations are discouraged as
described in Section 11.3 (Compliance with Instructions) of Part I (Instructions to Bidders) of the
RFP and SPPC reserves the right to reject any Proposal as non-compliant in its sole discretion.
The complete set of technical information to be submitted with the Proposal must be submitted
electronically on the electronic Procurement Portal (ePP) as described in Part I of the RFP.
The submission of the technical information is further divided into direct input to online Form
Sheets and upload of technical information.
The following Form Sheets of Part IV of the RFP are to be filled by the Bidder online through the
ePP:
Additional information to support or evidence the filled Form Sheets shall be uploaded to the ePP,
strictly following the provided folder structure as set out in the ePP.
For the sake of clarity, additional information is requested in Form Sheet P, which is not in direct
relation to the Form Sheets.
The yield report as described hereafter is to be upload through the ePP as per Section 2.1 of Form
Sheet P of Part IV of the RFP.
The Bidder is required to submit together with its Proposal one (1) yield report, prepared on behalf
of the Bidder by an independent advisor. The yield report shall be consistent with the technical
concept presented by the Bidder and shall be in accordance with all other provisions in Part II
(Technical Specifications) of the RFP.
The yield report shall be prepared by renowned experts or institutes independent from the Bidder.
The report will be used to corroborate the guaranteed performance values and the forecast for the
Projected Net Electrical Energy used in the Bidder’s submitted Proposal. The Bidder shall fill the
information required by From Sheet Q for the independent yield report.
All values as per Form Sheet D and Form Sheet H.2.1 shall be based on the respective values
of the independent yield report. Bidder shall assure traceability on how the values as per
Form Sheet D and Form Sheet H.2.1 were derived from the respective values of the
independent yield report. Under no circumstances shall the values as per Form Sheet D and
Form Sheet H.2.1 exceed the respective values of the independent yield report
The independant yield report and an associated Excel file shall be submitted as requested in Form
Sheet P (Technical Information to be provided with Proposal) of Part IV (Form Sheets) of the
RFP.
The independent yield report shall at least include and comply with the following:
• A simulation using the software PVsyst (version 7.x), considering the Bidder’s design as
per its Proposal;
• The corresponding PVsyst simulation report;
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• The TMY provided in Annex 1.2 of Part III of this RFP shall be used as meteorological
input data;
• Detail of all losses and assumptions used for the simulation and additional losses (applied
after the simulation) as requested in Form Sheet Q (Energy Losses and Yield breakdown)
of Part IV (Form Sheets) of the RFP;
• Comprehensible explanations for determination of individual losses;
• The independent advisor preparing the yield report shall not accept loss assumptions from
the Bidder or manufacturers without a reasonable basis and perform their own calculations
if assumptions made by the Bidder are not verified;
• The yield report shall be based on verified OND file for the proposed inverter and PAN file
for the proposed PV modules proven by supporting documentation e.g. IEC 61853-2 or
third-party approval;
• Bidder shall ensure that only components as proposed by the Bidder in Form Sheet E.2 are
considered in the yield report;
• The reactive power requirements as specified in the SAGC need to be reflected in the
PVsyst simulation of the PV plant. In line with the SAGC requirements, the Bidder has two
options, which are to be clearly explained by the Bidder in Form Sheet P (Overall Concept):
o Option (a): If the Bidder intends to use only compensation equipment for reactive
power provision, the power factor shall be set to Cos Phi = 1 in the simulation
o Option (b): If the Bidder intends to use inverters (and potentially additional
compensation equipment) for reactive power provision, the power factor in the
PVsyst simulation shall be set to reflect the contribution of the inverters for reactive
power provision.
• The maximum feed-in power at the Connection Point as described in section 4.1 in Part II
Particular shall be considered in the yield report and assumed clipping losses shall be
clearly stated;
• Uncertainty analysis of the yield forecast for the Plant;
The Bidder is required to base its yield report on the TMY data and the albedo data provided in
Annex 1.2 of Part III of this RFP. Bidder is neither permitted to propose alternative data or to use
data from other sites, nor shall the Bidder consider a value of albedo higher than as in the albedo
data provided. Doing so the bid would be ruled materially non-compliant.
The associated Excel file shall at least include and comply with the following (detailed column
headings are required providing sufficient explanations and the units of the related values):
• The solar energy input and the PVsyst energy output values (E_grid) in hourly resolution
• The Projected Net Electrical Energy at the Connection Point and the auxiliary night
consumption
• Traceability shall be assured on how the values as per Form Sheet D and Form Sheet H.2.1
have been derived from the respective values of the independent yield report
• The values linked to the guarantees at First ICOD, Second ICOD and PCOD (as per Form
Sheets D.1 and D.2)
• The values linked to the guarantees following PCOD (as per Form Sheet D.3)
• The values linked to the determination of coefficients (as per -Deemed Energy coefficient
calculator Tool in Schedule 17 and Form Sheet D.4)
• The values linked to the Financial Model (as per Form Sheet H.2.1) including P50 and P90
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WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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values
• Bidder to note that the values of Projected Net Electrical Energy in Form Sheet D.3 and the
P50 values in Form Sheet H.2.1 shall be exactly the same, and that the sum of hourly Net
Electrical Energy values as input to the “Deemed Energy coefficient calculator Tool”
attached to Form Sheet D.4 coincides with the value of Projected Net Electrical Energy of
Contract Year 1 of Form Sheet D.3, as indicated in section 3.1 and 3.2 of Schedule 17
(Deemed Energy Calculation-Methodology) to the PPA.
Neither SPPC, nor its directors, officers, members, employees, agents or advisers (including the
Advisers) shall have any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents of
meteorological data provided in Annex 1.2 of Part III of this RFP including the TMY data and any
opinions expressed or implied in any of the information provided. No representation or warranty,
express or implied, is given by any such person as to the accuracy or completeness of such
information or opinions. In particular, no representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy,
reasonableness or likelihood of achievement of any future projections, prospects or returns.
The following describes the minimum scope of information, documents, drawings, etc. to be
submitted by the Project Company to the Offtaker:
• prior to the Closing Date;
• after the Closing Date;
• during the design and engineering phase (prior to site construction); and
• during site construction of the Plant.
All documentation shall be provided in a timely manner and in accordance with the time schedule
set forth in the Implementation Schedule.
The Offtaker reserves the right to request from the Project Company such additional information,
drawings, documents, etc. as may be reasonably required for proper understanding and definition
of the design and engineering of the Plant.
The Project Company shall provide one (1) copy of all drawings and documentation considering
final submissions and documentation submitted during the clarification and negotiation after the
Effective Date together with a well organised electronic file, including, but not limited to, PDF
version of all files. The drawing and documentation shall include information with respect to
Connection Points or other interfaces between the Plant and the Grid Station, the TSP control
center and others as the case may be.
The description and specifications of the electrical protective devices to be incorporated in the
Plant in order to protect the Transmission System (as such term is defined in the Electricity
Interconnection Agreement) are of particular importance and require the coordination and
approval of the Offtaker and NGSA/SEC prior to incorporation into the design of the Plant.
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WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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The following documents shall be submitted by the Project Company to Offtaker by the dates
set forth below or, if not specified, as and when required but in any event prior to the Closing
Date:
• Monthly activities reports - by no later than five (5) Business Days after the last day of
each month commencing on the Effective Date. The table of contents of the monthly
reports shall be agreed with and approved by the Offtaker;
• Drawings and documents required for permitting, certifying and / or licensing of the
Plant, and copies of all correspondence exchanged prior to and after the Closing Date
between the Project Company and any government authority having jurisdiction over
same being understood that a high-level regular update on the overall
permitting/licensing process should be provided by way of the monthly activities reports;
and
• Update (if any) to the Implementation Schedule relating to the Plant (to be provided as
hard and soft copy) showing information on the scheduling of the following activities:
(i) design and engineering work;
(ii) order dates and time of delivery of major equipment and systems;
(iii) site surveys and site preparation;
(iv) factory tests for major equipment;
(v) civil/structural works;
(vi) erection and installation; and
(vii) commissioning and testing ramp up (in the period prior to the Project
Commercial Operation Date).
The following documents shall be delivered by the Project Company to the Offtaker by the
dates set forth below or, if not specified, as and when each such document is required:
• Monthly status reports - by no later than five (5) Days after the last day of each Month;
• Building permit issued to the Project Company in accordance with the applicable law for
the construction of the Plant, on such date as required under the Financing Documents;
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WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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• Follow-up on the requirements and recommendations from the Environmental and Social
Impact Assessment;
• Follow-up and finalisation of the project specific Health and Safety Management Plans
and HSE Policy;
• Any revision of the Implementation Schedule - by no later than five (5) Days after such
revisions;
• Documentation of Project specific information and data according to the Saudi Arabian
Grid Code and the Transmission Requirements for the interfacing with NGSA/SEC and
the Offtaker; and
• the Project Company shall resubmit updated controller block diagrams including its
updated parameters in case of any changes during the Term.
• Detailed (execution) design for all required works at the interfaces necessary for the
implementation of the Plant for approval if required;
• At least thirty (30) days prior to the start of construction on the Site or offsite areas, the
Project Company provides evidence demonstrating that it has obtained all material
governmental authorisations and consents or no objection letters required to commence
construction of the Plant from all relevant governmental instrumentalities, or that the
Project Company has taken all steps within its control to apply for and to obtain such
governmental authorisation (in the case of those that it has not yet obtained as of such
date).
• Monthly progress reports by no later than one (1) week after the last day of each Month,
including S-curves showing actual and planned work progress – including the following:
(i) Engineering and construction activities;
(ii) HSE, incidents, accidents;
(iii) Personal on site: local and external staff;
(iv) 4-week look ahead schedule;
(v) Photographical report; and
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WAVE 4 SOLAR PV IPP Part II General of RFP
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• The building permit or the no objection certificates, as applicable, issued by the various
departments such as, for example, Civil Defense, Town Planning or Public Works or
other relevant governmental authority to the Project Company and to the EPC Contractor
in accordance with Law, and all related permits, consents and approvals related to the
construction of the Plant;
• After commissioning, all updated electrical system calculations with the “as built”
configuration and all updated controller block diagrams including its updated parameters,
confirmed or corrected during commissioning, shall be resubmitted;
• At least thirty (30) days prior to Scheduled Project Commercial Operation Date, evidence
that the Project Company has obtained (from the governmental instrumentalities having
jurisdiction), all material permits, licenses, approvals and other governmental
authorisations required for the operation of the Plant, in accordance with the provisions
of the PPA;
• The Project Company shall submit to the Offtaker drawings, diagrams, graphs, curves,
calculations, schedules for information in relationship to the Plant. The quality of all
documents submitted shall conform to acceptable international practice; and
57