Nextracker, a global provider of intelligent solar tracker and software solutions, has been chosen by Acwa Power and Larsen & Toubro to provide its all-terrain tracker NX Horizon-XTR for a 1.17 GW installation at Al Kahfah Solar Power Plant in Saudi Arabia.

Al Kahfah is one of the three major solar PV Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects being led by Badeel and Acwa Power.

This solar plant will provide clean energy to the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) as part of the renewable energy projects essential to meet the targets of Vision 2030 and the Ministry of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Program to increase renewables in the nation’s energy mix to 50 per cent by 2030.

Global construction giant L&T has also been awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the Al Kahfah Solar Power Plant.

The Al Kahfah project will deploy Nextracker’s NX Horizon-XTR smart solar tracker systems. The area the solar plant will occupy is dominated by a hilly, hard-soil land surface that would typically require a combination of explosives and grading machines to flatten the land the new solar tracking system will cover.

The Al Kahfah project in Saudi Arabia represents Nextracker’s largest deployment of its NX Horizon-XTR solar tracker technology in a single order to date.

This 1.17 GW order further reinforces Nextracker’s commitment to this market, having over 10 GW of smart solar trackers either operational or under fulfilment across the region.

As part of its support to Acwa Power and the Al Kahfah project, Nextracker has extended its domestic content and capacity development program in the Kingdom. Nextracker has engaged a range of local partners in providing raw material and manufacturing support for its trackers at plants across the region.

Nextracker previously partnered with Acwa Power and L&T on the Sudair Solar PV Plant (906 MW) to provide its intelligent solar trackers boosting energy generation for these plants.

Dan Shugar, Nextracker founder and CEO said: "We are honoured to partner again with both Acwa Power and Larsen & Toubro for another significant project in the region. Our partnership with these two industry leaders has contributed greatly to Nextracker’s local commitment with over 10 GW of solar trackers already installed or under fulfilment across the MEIA region’s rapidly expanding solar energy market."

Marco Arcelli, Acwa Power CEO, added: "We are looking forward to a successful commissioning of this important new plant to ensure ongoing delivery of reliable, low-cost clean energy for families and businesses. Our partnerships with technology providers such as Nextracker are essential in supporting our role in Saudi Arabia’s ambitious National Renewable Energy Plan to increase the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix to 50 per cent by 2030."