Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea solar-storage microgrid goes commercial

On Saudi Arabia’s western coast, a tourism destination is now being supplied by its own utility network rather than the national grid. The Red Sea project has entered full commercial operation, bringing together solar generation, batteries, water treatment and other services for resorts, an airport and the infrastructure around them.

ACWA Power lists 358 MWac of installed solar PV (photovoltaic) capacity and 1,225.4 MWh of battery energy storage, alongside 112.5 MW of backup internal-combustion generation. The figures describe a larger system than a conventional solar-plus-storage plant: the microgrid also includes seawater desalination, drinking-water distribution, wastewater treatment, district cooling, solid-waste management and communications infrastructure.

The technical challenge is isolation. Connected to a national transmission network, a battery can support a wider grid; here, grid-forming storage must establish and maintain the network’s voltage and frequency while balancing changing solar output against demand. The project has also demonstrated black-start and fault-ride-through capabilities during operation, according to project disclosures.

The capacity figures have shifted across project descriptions. Earlier documentation referred to about 340 MW of solar and 1.2 GWh of storage, while Huawei described its supplied package as 400 MW of PV and 1.3 GWh. Guinness World Records certified 1,125.18 MWh of the installation in May 2025 as the world’s highest-capacity off-grid battery-based energy storage facility. ACWA Power’s current listed capacity is 1,225.4 MWh.

So what, concretely? The system is already supplying operational resorts, Red Sea International Airport’s airside facilities, employee accommodation, electric-vehicle charging, 5G infrastructure, district cooling and water systems without extending the national transmission network to the destination. Its operation offers a practical reference for isolated networks on islands, at remote industrial sites and in new developments where conventional transmission would be difficult or uneconomic. The solar and storage assets had been progressively commissioned since 2023; the latest milestone completes the wider multi-utility package.