Red Sea’s off-grid utilities system enters 25-year operating phase

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea destination has put its $1.84 billion utilities system into commercial operation, moving it from construction into the 25-year period in which the Acwa Power-led consortium will run it before handing it back. This is more than a solar plant: one coordinated, off-grid service supplies electricity, drinking water, wastewater treatment, district cooling and waste management to hotels, the airport and the wider site. Its 340-megawatt solar array and 1,227-megawatt-hour battery system are meant to keep those services running after sunset without a national-grid connection. The milestone matters because it puts a large, remote tourism destination’s essential services on a single renewable-powered operating system rather than a grid and separate utility networks.