Saudi water and power developer ACWA Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with Neutral Fuels, the Gulf Cooperation Council's largest biofuels producer, for collaboration on the supply of its Net Zero biofuel for the giant tourism project on the Red Sea.
Last November an ACWA Power-led consortium was awarded The Red Sea Development Company’s highest-value contract to design, build, operate and transfer The Red Sea Project’s sustainable utilities infrastructure.
Once completed, the tourist destination will become the world's first project of its scale to be entirely powered by a range of renewable and sustainable energy sources, including biofuel. As part of the MOU with ACWA Power, Neutral Fuels biofuel will be used to fuel the site’s entire transportation network.
The Red Sea Project is expected to prevent an estimated 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year by using renewable energy, and has already surpassed significant construction milestones. Work remains on track to welcome its first guests by the end of 2022, when the international airport and first hotels are due to open.
Neutral Fuels has begun setting up a biorefinery in Saudi Arabia to serve the project. The site will dovetail with Neutral Fuels' city-scale local/local/local business model in which biofuel is made from locally used vegetable cooking oil in a local facility for use by local customers.